A/n - I know, I know, I promised I'd post Ch. 2 of "Words, Words, Words". Unfortunately, my beta has been clobbered by college and real life in general, so the forthcoming chapter hasn't exactly been proofread yet. Anyway, I decided to post this as a peace offering. The plotbunny for this story attacked my sleep-deprived brain as I was working on Ch. 3 of WWW, and as a result I stayed up obscenely late to write and post it. This will be a two-part story that takes place about two years before NT 1. It's a Ben and Riley "How They Met" story, and it's a bit AU because there are no cubicles involved.
Disclaimer - I don't own National Treasure or Star Wars. I do own Millennium Motherboards, for what good it'll do me. Also, this has not been beta'd so any mistakes DO, in fact, belong to me.
A/n Pt. II - for those who are wondering, this is based on a personal experience. Most technology seems to self-destruct whenever I go near it; I've somehow crashed my laptop three times since I got it. Argh.
"It has to be raining. It just has to be raining," Ben Gates muttered under his breath as he navigated his car into a parking space. Rain was falling in sheets and Ben could hear the wind howling even from within the car. Ben glared at an inauspicious laptop on the seat next to him, obviously blaming it for his misfortunes. It had decided to crash in the middle of what could be a huge lead in the hunt for the Templar treasure, much to the annoyance of Ben, Ian, and the rest of the group. Of course, Ben's laptop wasn't the only available computer, but it was the one that all the research was saved on, making it the single most valuable piece of technology in Ben's possession.
There had to be some sort of technology god conspiring against him, Ben decided. How else could he explain the sudden death of his laptop? The Technology Gods were probably angry with him; he'd finally gotten rid of all of his old floppy disks a few days ago. If not Technology Gods, then Ben had a serious case of bad technological karma against him.
And, of course, it had to be raining. It hadn't been raining when Ben had left his house. It had started halfway through the drive and had escalated to hurricane levels when Ben was almost to the store. Ben figured the Weather Gods had teamed up with the Technology Gods to make his day excessively difficult. Murphy's Law dictated that the one time Ben's computer crashed and needed immediate repair would be the one time that a horrific storm would hit Washington DC. Ben believed that the only way to spend a rainstorm was inside with a cup of tea and a large book, and he almost turned the car back on to go home and do just that. The only thing stopping him was his passionate – not obsessed – need to find the treasure.
Ben eyed the storefront before him with slight distaste. Usually he would entrust his computer to a large store, like Best Buy. However, Phil had recommended Millennium Motherboards as downright amazing, with a genius tech support crew and an unheard of turnaround time. To Ben, it seemed to be a bit of a hole-in-the-wall, but he decided that he hadn't driven all the way in the pouring rain just to turn back now. He tucked the laptop into his jacket and opened the door.
Almost as soon as he exited the car, he was slapped in the face by the wind and rain. He hadn't seen anything like this storm in quite some time. Ben eyed the meter dispassionately, not about to run the risk of dropping the laptop so he could rifle through his pockets for quarters. After all, he didn't want to deal with the tech support just to hear that his computer had sustained water damage and was therefore unfixable. Ben really couldn't afford to buy a whole new computer, and the research on the hard drive was invaluable. Most of it was backed up somewhere, but the most recent information was not.
Ben shouldered his way through the door, relieved to be out of the weather. The interior of the store was small and a bit dark, with walls of software ranging from computer games to word processors. There wasn't much in the way of hardware, however, and Ben pegged the store as one that catered more to gamers. On one side was a desk with a cash register and a display advertising the imminent arrival of some new game. There didn't appear to be anyone else in the store, and Ben wondered for a moment if he had missed an "out to lunch" sign somewhere. Though wouldn't that require someone locking the door before they left?
"Yeah, it's normal. You just have to restart the computer," The sudden voice made Ben jump, nearly dropping the computer. Readjusting his grip, Ben pulled the laptop out from his jacket and tucked it more securely under his arm. He looked around the store, still not seeing anyone. For half a second, Ben wondered if there was some sort of computer god attempting to fix the laptop's problems through divine intervention. Maybe the Technology Gods were taking pity on him after he'd suffered through the wrath of the Weather Gods.
"Wait, what? That shouldn't be a problem. Why is that a problem? Are you running another program?" the voice said again. Ben frowned, trying to pinpoint the speaker. It was obvious he wasn't as alone in the store as he thought he was, and it was exceedingly obvious that the speaker was not a technology divinity.
"Have you been saving your work?" Ben's attention was drawn to the cash register, and he noted a telephone receiver. The cord connecting to the mouthpiece curled down over the other side of the table. Ben headed for the register, knowing that the tech support guy would probably be over there, if the phone cord was any indication.
"The printer doesn't matter. If you saved your work, everything on the computer will still be there when you restart it, no problem," The tech support guy was talking again, and Ben leaned over the counter hoping to catch a glimpse of him. What he saw was a mop of black hair.
"I'm positive. I restart my computer all the time," the tech guy said again, and Ben could practically hear him roll his eyes. The cashier and tech support was much younger than Ben had anticipated; he was probably in his late teens or early twenties. He was sitting cross-legged on the ground and leaning up against the back of the counter, with the phone tucked between his shoulder and his ear. As he was talking, he was deeply involved in a game of Tetris.
"No, you don't need to shut the computer all the way down. Just restart it. Do you need help with that?" The young man's tone was light, despite the earlier eye rolling. He sounded amicable enough, Ben decided. He just hoped that the younger man knew computers. Ben hoped to get his laptop back quickly so he could follow up on his newest lead. Even if it didn't pan out, Ben felt that every dead end narrowed the possibilities for Charlotte's identity. He knew he was close, so close he could almost taste it. The answer was right around the bend.
"Wait, don't..." the tech support grabbed the phone and leaned forward, obviously more interested in the conversation now. He heaved a sigh and took the phone off his ear. As he made to stand up, he caught sight of Ben looking over the counter.
"Hi, sorry about that; just another peon calling upon the services of Millennium Motherboards. We can fix anything, you know… except for our name, apparently. I told Colin to change it six times in the past week, and all he ever does is roll his eyes at me and tell me go restock Warcraft III," the teenager rambled, absently fooling with the phone cord. Ben noted his appearance in slight worry. The kid was dressed in a Green Day T-shirt and jeans – not exactly professional attire. His nametag had "Han Solo" printed on it upside down, though the teenager had pinned it so the name was right-side up.
"So what's wrong with your computer?" The kid asked, apparently having paused in his rambling long enough to realize that Ben was there for a reason. He patted the counter, indicating to put the laptop there. Ben obliged, turning the computer so the screen would be facing the kid. Han Solo, or whoever he was, opened the laptop and hit the startup button.
"It's just not working," Ben replied, suddenly feeling embarrassed. He knew he was about to get shown up by some kid in a computer store. It was no secret that Ben knew next to nothing about the intricate workings of computers. For all he knew about the history of the United States, he was lost when it came to hard drives and processors.
"Yeah, it just won't start. I keep getting this error message about a file being missing or corrupted," Ben offered a small shrug. Han Solo nodded.
"Oh yeah, I see. Poor girl," Han Solo patted the computer lovingly. Ben wondered if he'd inadvertently given his laptop to a crazy person. He was prepared to grab the broken piece of technology and bring it to the nearest Best Buy. It may be slower, but at least the people there seemed sane.
"Do you have any sort of antivirus software?" He asked, suddenly all business. Ben shook his head. He'd honestly never even thought of downloading antivirus software.
"Then I'd say you probably have some sort of virus or another. That shouldn't be too hard to fix, actually. I'll see if I can recover that file too. If I can't and I need to reformat the computer, would that be a problem?" Han Solo asked, opening a drawer on the other side of the counter. Ben could hear him rifling through it.
"What does that mean?" Ben asked. Han Solo gave him a look of disbelief, but he masked it quickly.
"I'll erase your hard drive and reinstall all the necessary components. Basically, you'll lose all your data but your computer should work perfectly," Han Solo explained. Ben sighed. He'd been afraid something like that would happen.
"Well, mostly everything is backed up so it wouldn't be too much of a problem. I'd really prefer it if you didn't, though," Ben replied, running a hand through his hair. Losing his most recent data would most likely force him to backtrack a bit. While he wasn't on a particular deadline, the setback would definitely annoy everyone.
"Alright, I'll only do that as a last resort then. Here, you want to put your phone number down? I can call you when your computer is all fixed," Han Solo pulled a pad of paper out of the drawer and pushed it towards Ben. A second later, a pen rolled across the counter. Ben obliged.
"So I can expect a phone call from Han Solo?" Ben asked dryly. Han Solo laughed.
"Huh? Oh, no. My name's Riley. We all have nicknames because of the inanity that Colin calls a 'respectable store name'. I got to be Han because I'm the awesomest," Ben was about ninety-eight percent sure that 'awesomest' was not a word, but he chose not to comment. "We've got a Chewbacca and a Leia and a Luke, who are actually cousins so it all works out. And we call Colin 'The Emperor' behind his back. It's too bad he won't take on an assistant manager or something so we could call him Darth Vader. Or Anakin if he was cool."
Ben usually didn't tolerate that sort of incessant jabber, but he found Riley's anecdotes a bit amusing. It was probably his smile. Riley's smile was infectious and Ben found himself mirroring the gesture despite the dreary weather outside and the broken laptop. But Ben had business to attend to; he couldn't sit around and listen to a tech guy's work stories all day.
"So how long do you think it'll take to get my computer up and running again?" Ben asked, steering Riley back to the issue at hand.
"It'll take about a day I think, unless someone else calls because they failed to buy a computer terminal and their monitor won't work," Riley rolled his eyes. "You wouldn't believe some of the calls we get. I'm half tempted to tell them to go bother Best Buy, but we have a reputation to uphold as the fastest and smartest tech crew in the city. We can't be jerks just because people are stupid." Ben arched his eyebrows at the last comment and seriously hoped that Riley didn't consider him one of the stupid people. Enough people in the historical community considered him to be utterly insane, and Ben did not want to add to that number – even if Riley was just a techie kid in a computer store.
"How much do I owe you, then?" Ben asked. Other than that, he didn't have much else to say. He was still a bit worried about the 'stupid people' comment. Riley pondered for a moment.
"Well, we generally charge by the hour. So I'll let you know when you pick your computer back up. It's something like $50 per hour, but I probably won't go over that so don't worry about it. When you consider the prices you get at some of those other places, it's a steal here," Riley replied. "Hey, is the weather still frightful outside?" Ben blinked at the apparent non-sequitor.
"Yes, it's quite frightful," Ben replied, matching Riley's vernacular. The younger man grinned widely, amused that Ben was playing along with Riley's speech pattern.
"Damn. Biking home in the rain sucks. Ah well, hopefully it'll lighten up in a few hours," Riley mused, more to himself than to Ben. The phone rang, interrupting what could have been an awkward silence. Ben had figured leaving while Riley was talking would be a faux pas, but he really didn't have cause to stay in the store since his computer was in Riley's safe hands. Though Ben did admit that Riley was interesting to listen to.
"Millennium Motherboards, the Y2K bug has nothing on us! This is Riley speaking," Riley said, wincing a bit as he recited the standard store name and slogan. Ben also winced; the Y2K hysteria had died two years ago, making the slogan outdated, never mind the still-dubious store name. He could see why Riley might have a bone to pick with the store owner.
"OK, sir, just…" Riley paused, obviously interrupted. Ben wasn't sure what to do. Leaving would be awkward, as they had been talking. "Yeah, it's designed to do that… you don't need to do that! It's designed to do that! I… OK, stop shouting. It's supposed to do that! No, I understand, I…" Riley put the phone back on the receiver with a sigh. "I cannot believe two different people hung up on me in one day. Colin's going to be thrilled."
"Dealing with more stupid people?" Ben asked dryly. Riley smirked a bit, perking up at Ben's sarcasm.
"Yup. I'll have you know that your computer is most likely going to be the most exciting thing that I deal with today. Or all week, really," Ben was inordinately relieved by that. Riley didn't consider his technological problems stupid, which meant that, by proxy, Riley didn't consider Ben stupid. At least someone in the outside world didn't consider Ben absolutely insane.
"Well, I'll leave you to it then," Ben said, offering a small wave. Riley looked up at him.
"Oh, alright! I'll give you a call when she's done!" Riley patted the computer again. Ben decided to forgive such eccentricities if Riley got the computer fixed. After all, his entire family was preoccupied with a supposedly-fake treasure; he could hardly judge Riley because he anthropomorphized computers.
Ben walked back out into the maelstrom, hoping that tomorrow would be better. At least he hadn't managed to pick up a parking ticket, though he mentally applauded any meter maids that were out in the weather. Climbing into the car, he hoped for a moment that the weather would let up so Riley could bike home safely. Scoffing at himself for worrying about a tech support guy he'd spent two minutes talking to, Ben drove home. A cup of tea and large book awaited.
Part Two will be posted soon-ish! Please review!
