Altair sat hunched over a long table in a drab room, his hands moving slowly over what appeared to be some kind of robotic figure. His tall frame seemed blatantly obvious when contrasted to the little metal stool he was using. His brow was furrowed in concentration, as if he couldn't mess this up.
And really, he couldn't, considering what he was operating on. The metallic body on the table lay sprawled out and completely immobile, the chest plate open and revealing a tangle of wires and circuits. Altair needed to do some meticulous rewiring after a slight malfunction merely hours before. Q, the android he was working on, had all of the sudden just shut down as if his power had been cut off.
After he was finished, Altair wiped his hands on his oil-stained trousers and gently closed the chest plate before getting to his feet. It took him a bit of careful maneuvering until he finally managed to turn Q over so he could access the back control panel. He flipped a switch and seconds later, the android whirred as if to signal that he was now awake.
Q sat up and looked at Altair, who was gazing at him with an expression of concern. He slid himself off the table and moved his arms, hoping to demonstrate that he was okay. The taller man seemed to relax and gave him a smile.
"Good to have ya back, buddy." he said cheerily, patting him on the shoulder.
Q would've responded, except there was no way for him to do so. It seemed as though everyday the two were reminded that the robot couldn't speak, and had never been able to. It hurt Altair the most, seeing his best friend but unable to properly communicate. It was like telling everyone you still weren't on speaking terms with your homie of four years. He wanted to help him more than anything so they could sit and talk as old friends for once in the entire time they'd known each other.
Still, there was always sign-language. Altair had taken to programming it into Q's database so they could both 'talk' that way. It was the android's only real way of saying anything, but it also meant that most of the time, Altair had to translate for him. Not that he particularly minded. The two were always together anyways, and neither ever considered changing that fact.
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Concise Longevity
Science FictionI have my characters now, and this is a series of their adventures! Each chapter will be thoroughly labeled so you can follow along your favorites. In general, this is Sci-fi, but Tuomo and Ross will be my only current exceptions. (p.s. I've dubbed...
