On Moving Up - An II Fanfic

5 - All I Wanna Do Is

"See, it always feels weird to me when people only play the first minute, because when you really get into the meat of it, 'A Party' is a thorough deconstruction of the way most pop songs are written, you know?" Fan explained, eyes concentrated on his phone. "If you only play the first minute, it's like- it's like some kinda fake-out, you don't get the whole message!"

"I... See..." Test Tube was seated next to him, carefully unscrewing the back plate to his laptop. "You know- I don't think I've ever heard the full song," she mused, dropping the little screws in a dish off to the side, before popping it open. "Hey- you said there's two drives in here, and one just stopped working?"

"Oh, yeah, I was trying to copy over some videos when I was on the train, but all of a sudden the computer started acting like my extra hard drive doesn't exist." Fan kept scrolling on his phone, trying to find a good quality recording of his favorite song so he could play it out loud. "The computer still turns on and stuff, and the main one is fine? I just don't have the extra storage."

"Is it a hard drive, or a solid state drive, because you just have two SSDs in here."

"Look, I don't actually know the difference," he admitted, waving it off.

Test Tube continued to poke at the components inside. "Four terabytes each? Fan, this isn't a computer, this is a nuclear reactor," she joked, face painted with surprise.

"What, is that a lot?" Fan looked up at Test Tube, blankly. "I mean- I know it kinda is, but I didn't think it was that surprising."

"It's way more than any normal person uses, trust me. The total space on mine is half as much, and even that's considered 'a lot'." Test Tube continued to work.

"Oh. I guess it just doesn't seem like much when you have every episode of all your favorite TV shows downloaded in HD," he commented earnestly as he shrugged.

"Hey, did someone take this apart to clean it?"

"Uuuhhh-" uh oh. Caught. Fan sheepishly glanced off to the side "I, uh- Heard something rattling around in the fan, there, so I tried to get it out myself?" A pause. "Should I have not done that?"

Test Tube tilted slightly, taking a closer look at the inside of the laptop. "I wouldn't have blamed you for taking a look, but I think you managed to damage the SATA port a little while messing with it."

"I have no idea what that means!" Fan exclaimed cheerfully, smiling nervously at Test Tube. "But can you fix it?"

"The SATA cable is the thing that connects your drive to your motherboard, so without the port, it's not gonna recognize it," she explained smugly, putting the laptop back together, "But- yes, I can. I might have to get a replacement port and solder it in. The actual process itself isn't gonna take too long, it's just a matter of getting the right parts, which might take a few days at the most."

"Wahoo!" Fan practically jumped in his chair, deciding to hit 'play' on his favorite song in celebration. "You're a lifesaver, Test Tube!" He exclaimed, throwing his hands up into the air. "Oh- wait! How much do I owe you?"

"Don't worry about it, I already have my soldering kit on hand, and the parts themselves probably aren't gonna be that much," she said, dismissing the thought.

"Aww, c'mon, I would just feel bad if I didn't-"

"Heeeeeeyyy!" Lightbulb unintentionally interrupted Fan as she kicked the door open to the apartment. "We got the- Oh!" she stopped. "You already got friends over, Tube?" Lightbulb asked, as the two stared back at her like deer caught in headlights.