Chapter 24:
"For the last time, Luke and Leia are siblings," I argued. I folded my arms to reinforce my standings.
"Then why did she kiss him?" Benny asked, mocking me by folding his arms across his chest. His hair was getting long, shaggy slightly across his forehead.
"Because they were about to be shot to death by Stormtroopers. Besides, she didn't know he was her brother until later." I stressed.
"I doubt that."
"I'm telling you the trut-"
"No, I believe you about the sibling thing. I just doubt they were about to be shot to death by those Stormtrooper guys. Did you see their accuracy? It was like a 23.8 percentile," he blurted. His face was serious, ponder distorting his features.
"Did you just make up that number?" I laughed. A smirk pulled on his lips.
"Does it make it any less true?"
"Okay," I caved. "But maybe Empire Strikes Back should wait. There's more sibling...kissing." I stood slowly, my legs feeling a bit numb. I pressed the power button, turning off the overhead projector. It was a nice selfish purchase for the 21st century. What? I can't buy things?
"See!" he exclaimed, jumping up from our makeshift pallet in the floor. He was right on my heels as I picked up our empty dinner plates. He gently took them from me, and rinsed them. "All I'm saying is that she was into both of them."
"I don't think so."
"You're telling me she was in love with Han from the moment they rescued her from her prison cell?" He turned, putting his hands on his hips. Suddenly, I felt like I was put on the spot.
"Maybe...not "in love". But," my words caught in my throat. That was weird. "But there was something there that felt too big to pass up." His eyes danced across my face, my cheeks heating up. I couldn't help but feel like it was suddenly really hard to breathe. Was this becoming about...me?
The communicator started blaring. Rushing to the console to answer it, the screen blinked to life. Life saver.
"Hey Mum-"
"I know, I know, I'm checking in too much. Nothing probably has changed since three hours ago-"
"Actually Benny here has now witnessed A New Hope."
"And the 23.8 percentile of the deadly marksmen upon the Death Star," he added, nodding with agreement.
Shaking my head, I asked, "Was there something you needed?"
"Yes, I do. Jack phoned us. He's looking for a part. He needs it to boost his signal," Mum replied, her thick accent swimming through my veins like a warm memory.
"Boost his signal?" I asked. Signal for what?
"The homing device they rigged together to try to find your father seems to function but the signal isn't large enough to do much good. They need a certain part from a planet in the 45th century. Good century that was, machines everywhere. The technology was beautiful, is beautiful," David rambled, looking somewhere far off. I could only imagine he was picturing what sounded like our next destination.
"Let me guess, you want us to go find it?"
"Correctamundo!" David shouted. "Okay, yeah I was definitely right not to ever say that again."
"Sending the coordinates right now," Mum said, clacking away at her keyboard. Not a moment later, the numbers were locked into the TARDIS' database.
"So what exactly does this part look like?" Benny asked.
"Good question, we're not sure to be honest. Jack knows," David winced, "sort of."
"Sort of?" I felt worry spark in the back of my mind.
"Okay, I've only been there once. We don't know a lot about their technology, only that they should have a part to boost the signal. So just land and we'll go from there," David rambled.
"Sounds like a plan, I guess," I smirked.
"Talk to you soon," Mum smiled.
"Love you," I called as the screen dissipated to darkness.
"Empire Strikes Back before bed?" Benny tempted as he pulled me back to the pallet of blankets in console room floor.
"Fine! But Return of the Jedi has to wait until after we find this part."
Adjusting the blankets and pillows, Benny wined, "Well, now we know how it ends. Spoilers!"
"You're such a dork."
The planet we had arrived at had the longest name of life. I couldn't tell you past the second syllable what it was. The towns were constructed from purely metal, the edges of the buildings cut sharp. Holographic screens littered every inch of skyline. It was like every cheesy futuristic movie out there. How ironic that they could actually be right.
But if you think about it...
No, I'm not going to discuss how anything is possible with so many dimensions. Focus.
Every time the TARDIS lands, I get a rush of adrenaline, knowing that we're somewhere new, somewhere exciting. It doesn't seem real at first, transporting from one place to another but yet the moment your foot presses against the hard surface of the planet, it feels real, alive even.
"Look at these shops! I mean there's more advance technological pieces here in the "trash" that is so far beyond what we had on Sector 67."
"David did warn us that the technology was-is beautiful," I cooed, taking a bite of an apple.
Stealing my apple, Benny took a huge bite. "So, you think we will find the part down in these slums?"
"Doubtful," I answered. "If they are looking to find a part to boost a signal large enough to descend through time and/or space, it's gonna be huge."
"See, you're so smart," Benny beamed, bumping my shoulder. "How'd I'd ever live without you?"
"You wouldn't," I smiled.
The area we had arrived in, from what I gathered, was divided in rings around the center of the city. As you got closer to the city, the more expensive everything started to look...and feel. The air even felt thick with gold.
"Maybe we should just ask somebody?" Benny suggested.
"Okay," I agreed, nodding my head, "Next person we see."
We continued walking through the stainless silver streets, the shops polished to perfection. Passing by the windows, everything started to look the same: shiny floors, items organized upon shelves, no color. It was like an OCD's living dream. Animatronic robots littered the walkways, busy doing their own little thing. It was strange to see these machines behaving as humans.
We continued walking for what felt like hours. We had yet to find another human, worry started to blossom in the back corner of my mind, spreading like wildfire. Where was everybody?
"There!" Benny shouted, his fingers lacing between mine. We started running towards whatever sparked his interest. I tried to see what he was rushing towards when finally I saw the cream color of skin. A human.
"Excuse me," he said, his voice hitched from running. He pushed his hair back out of his eyes. The person acted like it never heard him. He repeated, "Excuse me."
He put his hand cautiously on it's shoulder. Before I could even grasp what was happening, Benny was on the ground, his wrist twisted awkwardly behind his back. He cried out in pain. The being snapped it's head up to me and then and only then could I see that it was not a human at all. It was another animatronic robot.
"Where are your masters?" it asked.
"Masters?" I asked, my voice tight with fear.
"Your owners. I was attacked by this one, it must be reported," it answered. It's words came out smoothly even though it's voice was definitely of the digital variety.
"We don't have owners," I said, my words fumbling out slowly. Should I have said that?
"No owners? You are strays. Strays are taken to the auction," it stated, it's grip never easing up on Benny. His body was slumped against the ground, his face showing his pain.
"Auction? Like cattle?" I spat.
"Cattle haven't been around for centuries. All humans must have owners." It never missed a beat.
"I'll take them to the Auction House for you, Madame," a woman smiled beside us. Her skin was sun kissed, dark and radiant. You could almost feel the warmth pouring from her. Taking a few steps, she took a hold of Benny's shoulder, pulling him to his feet.
"Thank you," the robot offered. "Your owner will be rewarded."
The woman bowed her head, her wild hair falling every which way in golden streams. The robot turned on it's heel and marched slowly away from us. It's movement where so stiff, yet it's outer shell was so human.
The woman turned and locked eyes with me. They held mine with such kindness...and passion? A smile pulled on her lips, her pearly whites gleaming. "Hello, sweetie."