Rito Revolto's idea of "some more stuff down in the van" turned out to be a whopping eight cardboard cartons full of useless garbage. While Ecliptor didn't put one single bit of physical energy into helping the creature move in, he felt almost as though parts of him were systematically dying each time the oddly-colored skeleton came back into the apartment with even more of his garishly-colored, poorly packed, utterly useless items.
"There's no room for all of that," he told Rito as he returned from his sixth trip down to the van. "You shouldn't have brought it."
"Nyehh," Rito mocked him. "I bring what I want."
"You should have asked." Something caught his eye and he strode over to the badly sealed box and pulled the item out. "Oh, no. No, you are NOT bringing this into my house."
"Hey!" Rito yelled from the kitchen. "I don't go through your stuff! Where do you keep the Super Glug in this place?"
"I don't have any Super Glug!" Ecliptor shot back. "Now get in here and get rid of this!"
Rito returned, shaking the empty tea kettle.
"Isn't there supposed to be something in this? Like... to drink?"
"Get RID of this!" Ecliptor yelled, pointing at a bright orange portable Pac-Man video game console. "I won't have it in my house!"
Rito looked at him as if he were crazy.
"What! This is... do you know what this IS? It's Pac-Man!"
"I KNOW what it is!"
"Oh. Well... yeah," Rito said, thinking the conversation was over. "Uh, so... you got anything to drink?"
"GET THAT THING OUT OF MY HOUSE BEFORE I DESTROY IT!" Ecliptor roared.
"What! How come?"
"It will interfere with my equipment!"
Rito stood back and scratched his head.
"Uhhh... it will?" he asked.
"YES."
"Well, but... well... are you SURE?" Rito's voice lilted a bit at the end of his sentence.
"This system, Rito," Ecliptor said his roommate's name with every bit of sarcastic contempt his vocal synthesizers could generate, "Receives anywhere from seven to nine hundred thousand intergalactic transmissions each day. Do you have any idea of the importance of these intergalactic transmissions, Rito?"
"Uh... well, somebody sure likes to talk on the phone, it sounds like!"
Ecliptor seethed.
"Rito, are you even remotely familiar with the United Alliance of Evil?"
"What! Well, YEAH!" Rito yelled, suddenly excited. "Oooooh! Ooooh, oooh, oooooh! Yeah! Yeah! My dad-"
"AS the chief communications officer of the UAE, RITO," Ecliptor broke in coldly, "It's of SOME IMPORTANCE that I keep the PHONE LINES OPEN, as I'm certain you can understand."
"Uh..." Rito scratched his head again. "Well, why doesn't the UAE pony up for some better computers? You know, like... ones that won't break when you play Pac-Man?"
Ecliptor said nothing.
"I mean, because, like... you know?"
"Yeah, so, I'll be over to play with it every Thursday, okay, Dad? So don't throw it out!" Rito yelled into the telephone. Every so often he glanced behind him at Ecliptor, who was impatiently tapping his foot and looming over his computer console.
"End the conversation," Ecliptor said now. "End it!"
"What?" Rito yelled into the receiver, sticking one finger in his ear. "No, Dad... the connection's really bad here. I don't know, the guy's got some... uhhh... well, I can't remember what he said. But I'm bringing the van back tomorrow, and he won't let me have my Pac-Man game here."
He hesitated, listening.
"No! Okay-- you didn't hear ANYTHING I said! Awww, DAD! Come ON!" he scoffed angrily. "I AM BRINGING THE VAN BACK TOMORROW! I AM BRINGING THE PAC-MAN GAME TOO! THE GUY WON'T LET ME HAVE IT! SO DON'T THROW IT OUT! I'LL COME AND PLAY IT EVERY THURSDAY!"
He put his hand over the receiver and looked back at Ecliptor.
"Or should I have said Wednesday? Hey, should I have said Wednesday?"
Ecliptor stared at him silently.
"Huh?" Rito said into the phone. "Tomorrow! I'm bringing the van back TOMORROW! ...What? Well, because it's LATE, Dad! No!"
His voice became a whine.
"It's LATE, Dad! You said I could use the van! I'll bring it back TOMORROW! ...What! Aw, man! FINE!"
He threw the phone down and sat down on the floor, pouting.
"Gotta bring the stupid van back today," he muttered to himself. "I don't WANNA!"
"Take this with you," Ecliptor slid the Pac-Man game across the floor with his sword. It smacked against the neon green grid on the walls and gave off one single spark.
