All Veterans, All Wars
- by Infie
The usual trickle of packages was a veritable torrent. Max cursed under her breath as Normal waved the latest in a long line of brown-wrapped instruments of irritation her way. "MAX!"
She sauntered over, cocked her hands on her hips. "What?"
"Main and Pia." He tossed it at her and she caught it reflexively. "Everything seems to be on the other side fo the city today. Better get on it. Bip, bip, bip."
"What? What about Alec?" She waved her free hand vigourously. "He hasn't had any runs yet!"
"He's not here, missy-miss. Get on it."
She glared but headed for the door. "You better hope your boy gets here soon," she muttered darkly.
The object of her annoyance strode through the door with all of his usual grace and little of his usual cheer. She threw the package at him. He caught it and lobbed it back at her immediately.
"No can do, Max. I have a thing in..." he glanced at the clock on the wall, "one minute." He walked past her to the lockers, out of Normal's sightline. All of the transgenics Alec had brought in to Jam Pony were arrayed along the small corridor at the back of the lockers. They watched him approach with a peculiar intensity she'd never seen before.
She was immediately suspicious.
Alec joined the file of transgenics without a word. He glanced again at his watch, then dropped his arm to his side.
With absolute precision, the line of transgenics turned in unison to face east, hands snapping up into perfect salutes. Max's eyes widened in shock and her head snapped around to check the rest of Jam Pony. The flurry of packages seemed to have cleaned out the rest of the messengers. There wasn't a single non-transgenic in the building except for Normal, who was also frozen in a significantly less impressive salute. He was facing the television.
"What the hell?" Max took the step forward necessary to let her see the screen.
A group of people in a variety of uniforms stood at attention on the screen as a small child lay a wreath at the foot of a large grey monument. She focussed, and the soft sound of bagpipes tickling the edge of her hearing came clearer.
Normal's hand dropped. He turned and saw her standing with her jaw hanging. "You're supposed to be on a run! Get going! I don't pay you to stand around!"
Biggs came up beside her and neatly plucked the package from her grasp. She blinked at him, then looked around at the once more busily talking, gesturing transgenics. "Is it just me, or did the world take a leap to the surreal just a second ago?"
Biggs' mouth quirked into a smile, glanced at Normal, and hustled her further away. "It's Veteran's Day, Max."
She widened her eyes in expressive confusion.
"Veteran's Day..." He waited patiently, but she just shook her head. "You left way too early, Max... Veteran's Day is for honouring American soldiers, veterans of the wars."
She nodded slowly, gaze wandering to find Alec. He was standing at his locker, looking out the window. His face was remote. Each of the other transgenics stopped briefly in front of him and saluted him directly. He responded to each with a smile and a brief salute in return before returning to his view of outside. Her eyes narrowed.
"Why the special attention?" She jerked her chin at him.
Biggs followed her attention to Alec, then smiled gently. "Veteran's Day is for all veterans, Max... All Veterans, all wars." He strode away, leaving her to consider all of the things that meant for herself.
End