With a Spark
Chaos finished twisting a new spark plug into the droid's body and a moment later it buzzed back to life. They were so outdated that it was becoming difficult to keep repairing them, but with the Captain's ever growing debt, the opportunity to replace them had yet to come. Nevertheless, he was familiar enough with the outdated technology to make quick work of the job.
The dining room was empty since the meal had ended a while ago, but he still heard the sound of running water coming from the kitchen. A dishwasher was one of the long sought commodities the Elsa lacked, despite the fact that they had become common appliances a few thousand years prior. Having more people aboard the ship made it a less daunting task, but some were better at the job than others.
On the dreaded night where Tony was selected, they would be hurriedly rinsed off and slug into a drying rack while they were still unclean. With Hammer, he would end up getting distracted doing a dozen different things online while milling around the kitchen area and getting nothing done. All of the new passengers aboard the ship brought new alternatives; Shion and MOMO always did a fine job of it, but when Ziggy had tried, he had learned that a few of the gears in his hand were not waterproof. Jin generally managed to wash them without mishap as well.
I wonder whose turn it was tonight...
Almost as though to answer his question, he heard a crash come from the kitchen and the definite sound of dishes breaking. He winced and quickly closed the droid to investigate what had happened. The door slid open and he saw KOS-MOS standing in front in front of the sink with a faint glow emanating from her hand.
"Is everything alright?" he asked as he glanced down at the broken glass on the floor.
"It would seem that I overestimated the durability of this plate," she replied simply.
"Would you like some help cleaning up?"
"This job does not need more than one person to be completed. The time delay on completion has only been postponed for approximately two minutes on account of this setback."
"I bet we could make it a minute instead," he said with a smile.
She did not object as he knelt down across from her to help pick up pieces of glass. It was nostalgic, in a way; he sensed it when he helped Shion carry our routine, mundane tasks. They may have been simple, but they still stirred up memories from thousands of years prior when he did similar tasks with their previous selves.
It was bittersweet, to say the least. Regardless, being alive for so many years had taught him to hide nearly everything behind a calm smile and sympathetic voice.
"So exactly how did this break? It wasn't as durable as the others?" he asked conversationally.
"I overestimated the amount of force required to remove a stain on the surface of the plate," she replied in her usual blank, business like voice. "I will research the cost of the damages and forward the bill accordingly as soon as this task is completed."
Chaos laughed at her somber expression and explanation. "There's no need for that, we'll just buy some new supplies next time we stop at a dock colony."
"It would not be a problem to deal with the replacement cost properly."
"Instead of all of that, how about you just come shopping with Shion and me next time we disembark to resupply?" he questioned as he finished disposing of the glass.
KOS-MOS was silent for a few seconds, silently calculating her options. "Affirmative. That would be an acceptable course of action."
He smiled and nodded. "It's a plan then."
A few days passed before they stopped to resupply, but sure enough, KOS-MOS was waiting by the door when it was time to disembark. Shion had been a bit wary at first, but they went through the docks and the stores without mishap. Their excursion was completely free of accidental fires and similar incidents of destruction.
As they walked down the busy city street in search of a store that sold cutlery, the feeling of nostalgia returned again. They may have all looked very different, but the similarities to long hurried memories were still there. He could remember countless days where he would go into the town bazaar with Mary and Shion's previous self to shop for fresh food. He was often a few steps behind them back then, since he had always volunteered to carry the heaviest sachems for them. Everything had been so much simpler back in those days when they walked the dusty streets of Lost Jerusalem.
Though his memories glorified those times, he didn't want to take the present for granted either. Even if they couldn't remember all of those days like he could, they were still all the same people.
Their procession stopped when Shion paused outside of an antique shop to peer inside the window. Chaos followed her gaze curiously and noticed some of the vintage jewelry displayed on contrastingly modern holographic displays.
"I think I've seen designs like this in history books," Shion remarked as she examined the various necklaces and bracelets. "They look so familiar."
"We have lost approximately thirty seconds to this unplanned variation in trajectory," KOS-MOS announced matter-of-factly.
"We could go inside," he suggested politely. "We aren't in much of a hurry."
"Mmm, let's. Come on, KOS-MOS," Shion said cheerfully.
Shion led the way inside, but they parted ways as she and KOS-MOS went off in separate directions. The glanced around the store at all the shelves full of vintage jewelry. They varied from simple designs to extravagant and expensive matching sets. He could remember seeing nearly identical designs on small tables back in the bazaars of the old world. It was slightly odd to see such similar things all spread out in a large store; back where they had lived, the products that weren't necessities often had the smallest tables.
He walked over to KOS-MOS, who had paused a display showing a beaded sash. It was a simple woven design with only a few beads, something that had been quite general in ages gone by. Mary had almost always worn such things.
"Does this look familiar to you?" he asked curiously.
"There would seem to be a data error in my memory bank," she said flatly. "It would seem that I have made note of it before, but there is no solid record of it."
"I see," he said, allowing silence to fall between them for a moment. "Maybe it's a different kind of memory?"
"That is unlikely, it would not be logical. The level of encryption upon my memory does not allow various file types."
He closed his eyes for a moment, letting the images of the past become brighter in his mind. They could come back with the vibrancy of day old memories like a spark of electric in the dark. It was almost cruelly ironic that those days stood out so clearly despite all of the years of memories that had piled up on top of them. Regardless, no matter how much time passed by, they were still precious.
He opened his eyes and smiled, always with the knowledge that she wouldn't smile back. "Memories don't always make sense."
This was for the Xenosaga Secret Santa event over on DA. :D It's an annual event and will happen again this year.