Chapter 12: First Day Blues

"Hello, this is Marlene Devyns from Pho- I mean, Family Utilities. How can I help you today?" Marlene sits in front of her computer, practicing her lines. She frowns, groaning as "PhoneUs" nearly slips out.

Though she technically worked for PhoneUs, the company puts its employees on different projects. For Marlene, that meant that she'd spend the next few months working in the support call center for a utility company.

'It's gonna be fine,' Marlene takes a deep breath, 'you've hung the dry erase board up and Sun knows what's going on today. You're going to be okay.'

As she rests the headphones over her head, they pinch her ears. She briefly wonders if she should consider buying her own before entering the online calling portal - or the calling pool as she'd learned to call it during orientation.

As Marlene moves the microphone in front of her mouth, nervousness flutters in her stomach. Some would describe the feeling as butterflies in their stomachs. It was most certainly the most poetic take but Marlene found a swarm of angry wasps to be more fitting.

'But then again, that doesn't flow very well, does it?' Marlene hums, tapping her desktop with the tip of her nail.

Her first caller wasn't so bad - simply confused. He was an elderly man, who spoke a bit slowly and whose words sometimes came out muffled. Much to her internal horror, she had to ask multiple times what email his account was under.

Turns out, it wasn't under any address of the old man's but rather his wife's.

"Feel free to give us a call if you have any other questions. Have a nice day!" Marlene replies, feeling rather accomplished after ending the call.

The next customer wasn't so nice.

"I just paid my bill but I'm getting an email saying that they haven't received it. I don't understand why you can't fix it."

Marlene grimaces, knowing this sort of client all too well. They didn't always mean to be rude. Some of them were simply overstressed and lashing out.

Whatever the case may be, it certainly didn't make her job any easier.

"It's possible it hasn't gone through yet. When did you pay your bill? "

"I paid it electronically, so it shouldn't matter. Look, I just want to know when it's gonna be fixed, alright?" The client responds with an audible huff.

"I'm sorry, but I am afraid I cannot do anything about this. However, I can forward you to someone else who might. Can I put you on hold?"

"Forget it. I don't have time for this bullshit."

The line goes dead.

"And a nice day to you too…" Marlene grumbles, rolling her eyes at the pointlessness of the conversation. 'Why bother if you don't have time?'

Many calls follow, each client coming in with unique and foreign questions that left her brain fried and her battery drained.

But 5:00 P.M. finally came and released her from her obligations. Marlene stretches out in her chair, sprawling out in a way that certainly did not do her back any favors. 'Not a bad day's work,' Marlene thinks, a sense of accomplishment swelling in her chest.

Sure, it wasn't necessarily a job she wanted to do for the rest of her life, but Marlene supposed it was a good placeholder for the time being.

A burning smell reaches her nose before she spots the smoke.

Bolting up, Marlene finds Sun on the fritz in the kitchen. He takes panicked steps, hovering by the cracked oven door where thin black smoke trails out.

"Oh dear…"

Marlene pulls Sun away from the smoke before taking a look at the oven herself. 'Well… nothing's on fire at least,' She bats the smoke away with her hand, squinting as she peers in. Her nose scrunches at the smell that rises with the smoke. It was a nearly indescribable smell, though it did vaguely remind her of water burning on the stovetop.

Barely visible dark brown stains cover the bottom of the oven, but nothing else is out of order.

Well, almost everything.

In the oven sits a pan covered in aluminum. Taking one look at the food-induced hump, it made sense that the juices must have slipped out. 'And now I have an oven and a pan to clean,' Marlene gives a quiet sigh, 'I'm sure those stains aren't going to come out nice…'

"...Marlene?" Sun hesitantly asks, fiddling with a curled orange bit on his head, "Are you mad?"

"...No, I'm not," Marlene sighs, grabbing a loose bit of the aluminum. Inside were some simmering vegetables. The potatoes and carrots certainly looked recognizable. A chunk of meat bulges beneath the foil. 'Strange, I don't remember thawing anything.'

"Where did you get this meat?"

"I found it downstairs."

"In the freezer?" Marlene asks, blinking owlishly at Sun.

"Is that what it's called?" Sun replies with a tilt of his head, "It did seem colder than the refrigerator."

"Yes." Marlene takes a few potholders out and slides the pan onto them, "Oh boy… I don't think we can eat this…"

"I know it must look strange, but I'm sure it still tastes good! I followed the instructions…" Sun insists, though his fidgeting quickens.

"Oh, did you defrost the meat? I normally use the fridge so it takes longer when I do it."

"...Defrost?"

"When you cook meat that came out of a freezer, you have to thaw it out a bit first."

Sun slowly uprights his head. "...You do? Why?"

Marlene pauses in her explanation before pulling out her phone. "I think it's because we get sick if it isn't? There might be more to it, hang on."

After a quick search, Marlene spots the answer she wanted. "Ah, here we go. 'Meat needs to be dethawed before cooking it because harmful bacteria can live in the meat. If the meat is thawed incorrectly, these bacteria can multiply rapidly. If not, this causes food poisoning.' Huh."

"Poison?"

"Yeah, we can get sick from it."

"Oh…" Sun's shoulders slump, "I guess we'll have to toss it then. I just wanted to make you something nice for dinner. You're always doing nice things for me… but I messed this one up. I'm sorry, Marlene."

"I really do appreciate you going through all that trouble for me," Marlene soothes, giving her friend a gentle pat on the back, "and you wouldn't be the first one to make this mistake! When I first tried to cook chicken on my own, I got super sick from it. Let's just say I'm never going to forget it.."

To be fair, she was twelve, hungry, and very impatient. A strange age to be doing such things, but Marlene imagined herself as a rather… independent child.

'I had to be,' Marlene thinks as she begins wrapping the meat in several plastic bags. It wouldn't stink so bad before garbage day then. 'With dad at work and mom being… herself… I had to make something for Hannah and myself.'

Her sister, Hannah, had been ten at the time and very whiny. Being twelve and very used to fending for herself, Marlene had thought baking chicken breasts in the oven would be an easy thing to do.

To this day, Hannah still hates the taste of chicken.

'Now that I think of it,' Marlene carefully slides the bag into the freezer, 'I think that's when Aunt Winnie began visiting us more.'

"Marlene?" Sun interrupts as he begins soaking the pan, "What's it like outside?"

"...Can you be more specific, Sun?" Marlene scrunches her eyebrows together, "What aspect of outside?"

"Anything?" Sun tilts his head, drying his wet hands on a stray towel, "Everything? I've never been outside the daycare before coming here… and I don't remember my trip at all."

The concept strikes her as dreadfully ironic. Sun - a robot designed upon the beauty and wonders of the sky - grounded and hidden away from his inspiration.

"Well… it's hard to explain. It can be unpredictable," Marlene answers, a stone of distress weighing on her, "But most would describe it as relaxing."

"How strange. I don't often hear unpredictable and relaxing don't go together!"

But the weight doesn't lessen but rather grows heavier. A half-baked plan suddenly comes to mind and tumbles out of her mouth.

"It's still light out. If we stick close to the house, we can go to the backyard."

"Really?" Sun tilts his head and Marlene wonders if her idea sounded silly after all.

"I-if you'd like," Marlene nods, glancing off to the side.

"I'd love that! Lead the way, Captain!"

"Oh, Captain am I?" Marlene plays along as she leads him to the back patio door, "And what be you, my mechanical friend?"

"I don't know any other names, so first-mate I suppose!" He lays one hand on her head and frizzes up her hair.

"Knock that off!" Marlene giggles, smacking his hand away gently.

"I'm happy you're off of work now. It gets lonely when you're busy."

And though the robot said it so nonchalantly, it gives Marlene pause. She couldn't feel bad about leaving him alone - it's what needed to be done.

That didn't mean she didn't want to right the situation in some way.

"Aww. Glad you're not bored with me yet, Sun." Marlene teases, as Sun takes his first steps outside.

To be honest, the weather left much to be desired. The sky isn't kissed by bright rays of light, and the wind whips tree branches around. Marlene's hair smacks her eyes and she cringes in discomfort.

Ah. The joys of nature.

'Maybe I shouldn't have waited for a better day…' Marlene purses her lips and tugs a strand of hair behind her ear.

"Sun-"

"It's so cool!" Sun yells. Marlene sighs in relief as Sun paces the concrete patio square. "It's even better than the books at the daycare said!"

"I'm glad you like it," Marlene settles into a chair, feeling rather exhausted watching Sun brim with excitement.

Yet, it wasn't enough.

'This won't last forever. Sun needs something more sustainable,' Marlene decides, 'I've got to find a way for him to go where he wants.'

The real question was how.