August 2006

Schemer had returned to the Station shortly after his talk with Schemee and apologized to Becky for running out on her. No harm was done, and the Station continued to run as smoothly as it always did. Now that Schemer and Schemee were on speaking terms again, he felt his general mood lifted considerably.

He still thought of Stacy often, but wasn't afraid to share stories of days long past with the group. They seemed grateful for the release and eventually Stacy was openly talked about cheerfully, and not treated as a ghost that haunted the Station walls. He came to realize, this situation was not all his doing. While his choices from that fateful day, way back when, when he decided to leave the Station certainly played a large role, he had come to terms that everyone in his life had a significant part. Becky, Kara, Billy, and Kit all chose to come work here. Dan chose to move to Shining Time, instead of staying in the larger city where he worked. Schemee, as always, was a large impact on Schemer's life and he chose to forgive Schemer and help knock sense into him. Even Stacy, especially Stacy, had made choices that changed the course of their lives. The situation was the sum of their collective choices.

Schemer did take Schemee's words into consideration. He needed to find his happiness, and while he was glad to be at the Station and be a part of the happy mood that had taken over, something was still missing. He couldn't place it but a conversation with Billy one day helped point him in the right direction.

"You're a business man, you always have been." Billy said simply, in response to Schemer approaching him with complaints of being a co-owner.

"You think I can't handle this job?" Schemer pouted.

"I never said that. I said that you don't want to handle this job. Once you get things established you find the day-to-day aspect boring. You crave something different, something new." Billy said with a smirk.

Schemer couldn't deny that. But the only career that he truly thought back with fondness was the arcade.

"So start an arcade." Billy said simply while tinkering with a signal light.

"If I find machines that speak to me as much as those old antiques I used to have, I'll consider it." Schemer replied haughtily.

Billy rolled his eyes at the mention of "antiques", as Schemer rarely spoke highly of his old machines when he previously had them in his possession, but said nothing further on the matter.