Tales of Beacon City: Rivers of Açaí
A Nandroid Fanfic by C4I0 and Scraps the Fool
Chapter 3: Good for Customer
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One Hour Later
[REINICIALIZAÇÃO DO SISTEMA CONCLUÍDA! NENHUM DANO AOS SISTEMAS DETECTADO!]
[NENHUM ERRO DE MEMÓRIA DETECTADO! EXAMINANDO QUAISQUER ERROS ADICIONAIS NO SISTEMA!]
[ENTRE EM CONTATO COM O SUPORTE TÉCNICO DA STERLING ROBOTICS PARA ASSISTÊNCIA SE OS PROBLEMAS CONTINUAREM A OCORRER OU ESCILAREM!]
[TENHA UM RESTO DE SEU DIA SEGURO E PRODUTIVO!]
Keila rebooted to find herself in the breakroom, looking around at her surroundings. She then began to recall how she had gotten into the breakroom, how she became overwhelmed by the customers yelling at her and blaming her for screwing up, and how she had fallen back to the dark place in her mind, to the place before she came to Beacon City, before Lucas was able to come to her rescue as he did many times before.
As she took a deep breath, Keila stood up and walked out of the break room into the main serving area of the coffee shop. She had expected the shop to be in utter chaos because of what had happened, but to her surprise, it was quite calm. Cherri was working the register serving drinks while Archie was mopping up a table where a kid had spilled his drink all over the floor. As she walked up to Cherri, the red-haired woman turned to Keila and smiled warmly.
"About time you got up." Cherri said with a chuckle as she stepped aside to give Keila her spot back. "Sorry about running late, that was quite the circus you were dealing with."
"Y-yeah…" Keila said sheepishly as she looked around the shop. "Hey, do you know where Lucas went."
"Yeah, he said that he was going to Dupont to get something for the shop. He said that it would "fix the game" or something like that." Archie explained as he approached the counter, pushing his mop and bucket in front of him like a dog on a leash. "If you ask me bra, there's only one thing to help "change the game" around here."
"Archie…please…" Cherri sighed as she squeezed the bridge of her nose with her fingers. "If you say "we need live music" one more time…"
"Aw come on Cherri, this placed needs more positive vibes." Archie explained with a guffaw as he leaned on his mop. "What better way to arrange the chakras of the customers than through the magic of music?"
"Imma rearrange your teeth if you don't shut up and do your job." Cherri growled, shaking her fist at the hippy with the mop.
"See Keila, that's why we need live music here bra." Archie explained as he pulled the Nandroid close to him and reached his hand out towards the shop.
"Imagine it: a stage right over there, a stool on top of it. Then the musician emerges, his guitar ready to play the words of the world. Then comes the regulars who enjoy the music, followed by the fans, the groupies, potential band members, and then, those rich executives ready to give me the contract for my big break! How's that sound for a game changer?"
"It does sound nice Archie…" Keila replied meekly as she stepped away from her co-worker, who smelled like cheap pot and hot pockets. "…but how would you getting into the music industry help us out?"
"Two words: Brand Recognition!" Archie explained, pulling Keila back in as he raised his hand into the sky. "When I become famous, this place will be a historical landmark man! It'll be the place where a legend was born, like the log cabin that Washington was born in."
"You mean Lincoln?" Cherri corrected, as she handed a customer her coffee. "Lincoln was born in a log cabin."
"Yeah…Everyone knows that." Archie said as he turned towards Cherri. "What's your point?"
Cherri signed in annoyance as Keila giggled in amusement. While they would get on each other at times, Archie and Cherri were good friends, and a wonderful team. Keila then looked back to the coffee shop and saw how calm it was, much calmer than it was before, and her thoughts turned to what happened exactly, how she screwed up and got everyone mad, and how they said that they would prefer a human worker to an android.
As she felt the darkness starting to claim her again like before. Archie quickly noticed this and started singing to her, deliberately off key as he held the mop like a guitar and planted his foot into the mop bucket, catching the attention of Keila, Cherri, and the other customers.
"Oh Keila! Sweet Keila! Our Nandroid from Brazil!"
*bweedle-dee-dee! *
"Keila, dear Keila, You're here when we're well or we're ill!"
*bweedle-dee-doo! *
"You're such a diligent worker, more so than even MEEEEE!"
*bweedle-dee-dop! *
"Oh Keila, great Keila! Without you, our shop would be…uh…um…er…beeee…gone!"
*BWEEDLE-DEE-DWAMP! *
The customers, who knew of Archie and his reputation, applauded as Keila started laughing from hearing Archie's song as Cherri signed again in annoyance, trying to hide her smile from her annoying co-worker, as well as the growing blushing of her cheeks.
"You dullard…" Cherry muttered under her breath as she watched Archie "try" to remove the mop bucket from his foot, causing Keila to laugh even harder.
Just then, the three workers heard a loud thump from the front of the door as they saw Lucas step into the coffee shop. He was holding a large heavy-looking machine over his shoulder as if it were made of cotton. As he stepped past everyone and made a beeline to the break room. Keila Archie and Cherri looked at each other before Lucas stepped back into the main room.
"Howdy boss, where've you been?" Cherri asked as she was taking another customer's order. "You said it would only take fifteen minutes to pick up your…er…surprise."
"Huh? Oh yes! Surprise is in back under cloth." Lucas explained giggly. "I found new thing that'll save Ursa coffee!"
"Really!" Archie said as his face beamed with excitement. "Is it a-"
"NO! Thing's not music machine." Lucas replied bluntly to the aspiring musician/busser as he pointed at him with a large finger. "No sing song for you!"
"Aw man!" Arching grumbled, snapping his fingers as he took his mop and mop bucket to the restrooms. "…and I got my foot wet and everything."
"What's the thing you found Sr. Rudkus?" Keila asked, curious about the machine Lucas was hauling. "Because it looked a lot like a-"
"AH! Tyla! Don't spoil!" Lucas interrupted as he waved his hands in front of the Nandroid. "We have meeting after shift. I give announcement then! Big announcement!"
"And we're getting overtime for attending right Lucas?" Cherri teased.
"Sorry! Can't understand." Lucas teased back as he went back to the break room to inspect his machine. "Uh…no speak English."
Cherri and Keila laughed as they returned to their jobs. It was at this point that Keila realized how silly she was for being in the dark about her mess up this morning. Sure, it's happened before, and yes, she gets caught up in her thoughts, but she'll always have her friends at Ursa Coffee to lean on for support, especially Lucas, who quite literally saved her life.
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Two Years Ago
[REINICIALIZAÇÃO DO SISTEMA CONCLUÍDA! NENHUM DANO AOS SISTEMAS DETECTADO!]
[ERRO NO SISTEMA DE MEMÓRIA: DANOS DETECTADOS NAS UNIDADES DE MEMÓRIA E-113 E N-220! ENTRE EM CONTATO COM O SERVIÇO TÉCNICO DA STERLING ROBOTICS IMEDIATAMENTE! (Código 22)]
[DANOS CRÍTICOS DETECTADOS EM TODOS OS SISTEMAS! ENTRE EM CONTATO COM A STERLING ROBOTICS TECHNICAL SERVICES IMEDIENTEMENTE! (Código 12)]
[TENHA UM RESTO DE SEU DIA SEGURO E PRODUTIVO!]
Keila woke up and found herself inside a strange place, it looked like a coffee shop of sorts, but she didn't recognize it at all, and it was difficult to see as if one of her eyes was deactivated. As Keila tried to move, she found that she couldn't and as she looked at her body, she could see that she was missing her left leg while the right one was broken in half. She then looked and saw that her left arm was smashed apart, connected only by a series of wires and cords. Her right arm was intact, but the plastic plates covering it were either cracked or missing.
Keila started to panic as she saw that there was a large extension cord that was plugged into the wall and ran all the way to the table that Keila was lying on. As Keila felt the cord attached to her charging port, she took a deep breath and tried to think about what had happened.
[ERRO NO SISTEMA DE MEMÓRIA: DANOS DETECTADOS NAS UNIDADES DE MEMÓRIA E-113 E N-220! ENTRE EM CONTATO COM O SERVIÇO TÉCNICO DA STERLING ROBOTICS IMEDIATAMENTE! (Código 22)]
As Keila realized that she couldn't remember anything, she heard a sound from the backroom of the shop and turned to see a giant shadow. Keila watched in fear as the giant approached her, holding something in his hands.
"Fique longe de mim!" Keila shouted at the giant. Trying to move away, but unable to with her damaged limbs. "N-não me machuque! Por favor! Sinto muito pelo que fiz, mas não me machuque! POR FAVOR!"
As the giant turned on his flashlight, Keila could see that the giant was a large man, with black locks of hair thick eyebrows and a thick black moustache. She then recognized him as the man who she saw before everything went dark. The man who was angry at her with the large club.
"AJUDA!" Keila shouted as she wriggled on the table, trying to call for help as she was at the mercy of her captor. "ALGUÉM ME AJUDE POR FAVOR!"
"Woah! Lengva ten! Lengva!" The man said as he sat down next to Keila and placed the flashlight down on the ground. "Let's be calm for second. I mean no harm."
He then put his hands in the air and waited, Keila then saw that the man allegedly didn't mean any harm, but she still was cautious.
"Do you speak the English?" the man asked as he raised an eyebrow at Keila. "You speak Portuguese, but what about others, Lithuanian?"
[ERRO NO SISTEMA DE MEMÓRIA: DANOS DETECTADOS NAS UNIDADES DE MEMÓRIA E-113 E N-220! ENTRE EM CONTATO COM O SERVIÇO TÉCNICO DA STERLING ROBOTICS IMEDIATAMENTE! (Código 22)]
Keila nodded as she tried to reply in Lithuanian, but she found it difficult to respond in Lithuanian, she could understand it, but not speak it.
"I…c-c-an't…sp-sp-spe..k…it…" Keila tried to reply, her voice module was clearly damaged.
"Ah, but speak English, yes!" the man said with a laugh as he pulled up to Keila and extended his hand to grab her's. "I'm Lucas Rudkus, and this is my shop. You had bad accident, but I try to fix."
"…Sr…Ru…ku…s" Keila stammered weakly as she watched Lucas walk over to another table and grab Keila's missing leg and hold it in his arms. It looked as if it were either an arm, or a leg. "I…m…K-K- Keila…"
"Nesijaudink! Little Keila! This will be easy fix." Lucas said pridefully as he held the limb before the damaged Nandroid, the limb fell apart in his hand in a spectacular clatter. "Well…maybe not so easy fix…I look up instructions."
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Present Day, 8:30PM
For the rest of the day, things were pretty easy going, there was the lunch rush at noon, but with all hands on deck, it was nothing the Ursa coffee team couldn't manage. The Karen customer from earlier came back with a small posse of protesters and tried to protest the allowance of an android in food service by preventing customers from going into the shop, but Lucas quickly shooed them away.
Soon it was closing time, the shop closed early due to the lack of customers at night, many of them often heading over to the Beacon City strip to mingle at the many bars and entertainment, such as the ever popular "Silverhand Club."
As the crew gathered around the booths to await Lucas' announcement, Cherri, Archie, and Keila watched as Lucas pushed a small cart out of the break room. It was a simple plastic pushcart, which had something on top of it covered with a large salmon pink towel.
"Gerai! Thank you for coming! Now I know you have questions…" Lucas started, standing before his crew with excitement.
"Yeah, I got one…" Archie asked, tuning his guitar as he sat in his booth. "…can we go home now?"
Cherry slapped Archie on the arm, causing Archie to let out an audible "Ow!" and tend to his wound. Lucas signed as he continued his meeting.
"Now, as many know, our sales this year were bad. New coffee shops take business away from Ursa. If no fix, this shop is kaput." Lucas explained, looking to the team with a mix of worry and excitement. "But I have idea! What if we do what other coffee shops don't?"
"Aw yeah, I know what you're getting at Lucas…" Archie said with a goofy laugh as he stood up on his seat, his guitar in hand. "Don't worry boss man, I won't let ya down…well…maybe after I start my world tour…"
"No Archie…no music." Lucas sighed as he rubbed his face with his hand. "Just…just sit."
Archie slumped back into his seat, deflated. Keila gave him a pat on the shoulder in support, which quickly cheered her coworker up rather quickly.
"So, what's the idea Lucas?" Cherri asked, genuinely interested. "Is it something new for the shop?"
"Teisingai! You right Cherri!" Lucas replied with a clap of his hands, as he then grabbed the towel on the cart. "Štai! The savior of Ursa Coffee!"
Lucas pulled the towel away as Cherri, Archi, and Keila started at the supposed savior of Ursa Coffee, the innovation to solve all their problems, the key to financial success...
"Is that…" Cherri asked, hesitating as she tried to determine the machine before her. "…a soft serve machine?"
The machine was about as tall as the espresso machine, but twice as wide. It was classic soft serve machine one would find in specialty restaurants, like old Chinese restaurants, which dispersed either chocolate, vanilla, or mixed ice cream at will to customers.
Lucas got this soft serve machine for a bargain at a government auction in Dupont, having originally belonged to a scapper boss named Blake who was arrested for starting a bar fight in Hawthorne a few months back.
"Now hear idea…" Lucas explained as he gestured to the soft serve machine as if he was selling a car. "Adult love coffee, but kid…eh…not so much. Now, we sell coffee *and* ice cream! Kid love ice cream, adult love ice cream too, we have money. Eh? Eh?"
"Okay…cool…" Archie said, still tuning his guitar. "…now can I go home?"
"Ah! That is second part of idea…" Lucas continued as he raised his finger upward. "I plan to have shop close at ten now, people bring kid to shop late, they buy ice cream, adult buy ice cream, we have money. Eh? Eh?"
"Open to TEN?" Cherri exclaimed. "Are you crazy Lucas, you can't expect us to stay up that late! That's way over…eight hours counting the morning shift! Plus, with only the four of us, who could even work that late?"
"I could…" Keila replied, raising her hand. "I'm a Nandroid, and I don't need sleep. I'll just charge while I'm at work, and I can work the night shift.
Cherri and Archie looked at each other in surprise. In their time collaborating with Keila, they nearly forget that she was a Nandroid. This could actually work.
"Puiku! So, for now, Cherri and Archi will work morning and noon shift, and then Keila and me will work night shift." Lucas exclaimed as he held out his hands as if he were an army general explaining the battle plan to his soldiers. "It'll be struggle in beginning, but this will work! It must work!"
Just then, Archie raised his hand again, causing Lucas to sigh loudly as he pointed at his employee.
"Yes Archie…" Lucas asked, anticipating another attempt to slide in his plans to play the guitar. "…you have say?"
"Yeah, so what's gonna be the "zinger" to attract?" Archie asked as he went back to strumming his guitar. "Like, what's gonna be the thing to have this ice cream stand out from the other parlors all around Beacon City?"
"Ah…well…uh…" Lucas was going to reply, but then fell short. He was so invented in getting the ice cream maker, he didn't think of a way to help it stand out. Archie was an unmotivated slug at times, but he was no idiot. Without something to help them stand out from the other ice cream parlors, their soft serve machine was more of a gimmick than a miracle.
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As the meeting came to an end, Cherri and Archi said their goodbyes as they departed the store. While walking to their cars, Cherri gave Archie another punch on the shoulder.
"Ow! Take it easy on me bra." Archie whined as he rubbed his arm. "Too many negative jujus all in here."
"Now why the hell would you crush Lucas like that, after everything he's done for us?" Cherri hissed at her coworker. "That man is a saint and just for once, it would be nice for you to actually be part of our team."
"Hey man, I'm part of the team. Hence the feedback." Archie replied as he held up his hands defensively. "The boss man's got no flair; and he'll need it to bring attention to our shop. If he wants to save our jobs, we need to bring in the customers, and that'll take a lot of attention."
Cherri sighed, knowing that Archi was right. She then looked back at the coffee shop and then back to Archie.
"Now there's one sure fire way to get that attention…" Archie explained to Cherri, who walked away in annoyance. "…now here me out Cherri, all we need is a decent speaker and a stool."
Meanwhile, As Archie and Cherri were walking to their cars. Lucas and Keila stayed behind to install the ice cream machine in the coffee shop, wedging it right next to the coffee machines.
"There! Good place for machine." Lucas sighed in satisfaction as he patted Keila on the back, the two of them admiring their hard work. "Now all machine needs is ice cream…and customers…"
Keila looked up to Lucas, seeing the underlying sadness in his as he and the Nandroid turned and walked out of the store, turning off the lights as they stepped outside, and locked the store up.
"Don't worry Sr. Rudkus, we'll get through this." Keila said to Lucas reassuringly. "We had rough patches before, but we got through them."
"Ah! I know that…" Lucas said with a sigh as he walked with Keila to his car. "…my wife, Teta, used to say same thing back in old country, when the soviets took everything from us."
Keila could see the anxiety in Lucas' face, the man lost everything before, and now it could happen again, and this man would stop at nothing to save this shop, the shop he gave everything to help flourish.
"Sr. Rudkus…Desculpe …" Keila said, feeling responsible somehow for how Lucas felt. "Perhaps if I worked harder…if I didn't have…my moments…"
"Keila, Ne! Don't ever think that!" Lucas reassured Keila as he knelt down and looked the Nandroid in her eyes with a warm smile. "You are hardest worker. You help store thrive, and I'm proud to know you. Little Keila."
Keila felt tears well in her eyes as she hugged Lucas. Since starting her work at Ursa Coffee, she always had Lucas in her corner, always there to support her, it was thanks to him that she was able to find work, to find an apartment complex that accepted androids, and it was thanks to him that she was where she was now.
[ERRO DE SISTEMA: MAU FUNCIONAMENTO NO LIMITADOR DE ABRAÇOS! CONSULTE UM TÉCNICO ANDROID PARA ASSISTÊNCIA IMEDIENTE (Código 18)]
"Don't worry about the ice cream senhor!" Keila said reassuringly as she broke from the hug. "I'll think of something to help us out."
Lucas smiled as he gave Keila a reassuring pat on her head, as a father would do to their child when amused by them.
"Sėkmės, It is hard to think new idea with ice cream." Lucas said with laugh as he walked away to his car. "Perhaps you invent super ice cream that's good for customer. That bring customer in droves. Labanakt Keila!"
As Keila waved goodnight and walked to the bus stop, waiting for the evening bus, she thought about the store and how to save it. Advertisements were always sure fire, but what would help the ice cream stand out from the rest. As she saw the bus arrive at the stop, her eyes were drawn to the large advertisement on the side of the bus.
"Need a surge in the morning? Try the new Pulse-MF Energy Drink! Made with super fruit "Monkfruit" extract!"
Keila sighed in annoyance at the ad as she stepped on the bus and scanned her card before sitting on one of the seats, next to her was a sickly looking man, thin as a pencil and eyes glassed over as he was mumbling to himself, the potent bouquet of urine, stale alcohol, and meth emitting from the man spoke volumes about his character.
"Da-da-da universe's in da mayonnaise jar kept in da cupboard man!" The man mumbled to himself, his mouth missing all but four teeth...oops!…all but three teeth. "Dat fool with the BIIIIG smiley face tells all of us what to do. He used to be a violent fool to rocks, then he ran away for ten turns, but now he's a kind fool to machines."
Keila slid farther from the man as she looked out the window of the bus, still thinking about how to help Ursa Coffee. She then thought about what Lucas had said to her before he left.
"Perhaps you invent super ice cream that's good for customer. That bring customer in droves."
It was at this moment that she also remembered the advertisement on the side of the bus, specifically the last part.
"Need a surge in the morning? Try the new Pulse-MF Energy Drink! Made with super fruit "Monkfruit" extract!"
"Super ice cream that's good for customer."
"Made with super fruit Monkfruit extract!"
"Super Ice Cream"
"Super Fruit"
…
"Super ice cream, now with super fruit that's good for customer."
It was at this moment that Keila felt something clicking in her head, a memory that she had forgotten until now. It was a memory from her time in Brazil.
She was with a child, a child who was sick and needed to eat a kind of special fruit to get better. However, the child refused to eat the fruit, as they didn't like it. So, to trick the child into eating the fruit, Keila learned from a woman how to covert the fruit into something like ice cream, and the child ate the fruit and got better.
The memory vanished as soon as it came. Keila couldn't recall the names or faces of the people in the memory, but she was able to recall the most important part, which was the specific fruit used in the memory, and how it could be used. Keila's eyes widened with realization as a wide smile grew on her face.
"The super ice cream that's good for customer!" Keila exclaimed aloud on the bus. "Made with the super fruit Açaí! Açaí! EU ENTENDI!"
The man in the other seat moved down away from the Nandroid, not wanting to be near the crazy Nandroid on the bus while he contemplated burning all the water in the word.
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End of Chapter Three