The Retro Years(Adopted from Bootieos16)

Play Time: 217,140:17

____________________________________________________________

Present day, November 14th, 2045

____________________________________________________________

The clock above the dining room table read 5:47 p.m. Player stuck the broom back in the closet and scanned his kitchen and living room area, admiring his work. His house cleaning was coming along nicely so far, so he knew that by the time Thanksgiving arrived, everything would be ready for company.

I'm just glad I can wind down a bit now that I have some time off.

The week preceding his vacation had been hectic; being the loss prevention manager for Bromander's Gadget Co., it was his duty to manage the inventory and keep as much of it as possible from going to waste somehow. Over the past two weeks, he'd busted open a scandal between two of the lower end employees before things got messy, and prevented what could have been a full-scale theft operation that'd have cost the company thousands of dollars. It turned out they'd been preparing for the heist for months by stealing small quantities of items. Fortunately, Player had implanted extra security measures, and both of them were caught, arrested, and subsequently fired. Despite being proud of himself for preventing the company crisis and being praised by his peers, he was exhausted once all of the crazy legal and financial business was said and done, and now he finally had some time to wind down and focus on his friends and family.

...The sound of ringing coming from Player's pocket suddenly caught his attention, and he pulled his phone out to see who was calling him...None other then his own best friend.

Already smiling, he answered in a hurry and brought the phone up to his ear.

"Hello?"

"'Ello, Player!"

"Hey, MrEgg! How's it goin'?"

"Quite well, thank you. Say, I know this is a bit short notice, but Ria and I are having a movie marathon tonight, and we were wondering if you'd care to join us."

"Ooh, I'm intrigued! What kinda movies are we watching?"

"All four of the Lego movies."

Player could detect the playful smirk in MrEgg's voice, to which he smiled himself.

"I'm in," he decided. "What time should I get there?"

"In about an hour and a half. If you want, I can also make dinner for three instead of two; I'm whipping up some curried eggs with spinach!"

"Oooh, that sounds exotic. I'll be there at around 6:30, does that sound good?"

"Very good! Say, speaking of food, did you hear about what Veteran did the day before yesterday?"

"Oh my God, how could I NOT have?" the red crewmate chuffed. "EVERYONE was talking about it...I honestly hope he's okay, though."

"Yeah, me too. But he honestly should have figured eating THAT many reubens in one sitting wouldn't have ended well...I mean, just think about how much sauerkraut that is!"

"Yeah..."

"...Something the matter, old chap?"

"I dunno...I guess I kind of feel bad for him," Player told the egg-wearing crewmate on the other end. "I mean, I know I made my final decision that day, but I mean...It turned out I was the only guy he ever called his best friend. He gets along better with Captain now, but whenever I see him, I can just...sense that sadness in him. The way he speaks, the way he walks...At least Captain got over me; he's more interested in my sister now, y'know?"