Time Is Money

Chapter Four

Chapter Four

Copyright © 2012 Elaine Harlington & Nancy Noon

    Ruby buttoned her brother’s coat up gently. Mark stood patiently, allowing her to do it, even though he was perfectly capable of doing it himself. He knew that she was nervous and that she needed something to do.

    Her parents were behind them, talking companionably with each other about meaningless subjects. Ruby had no idea why they always kept up the charade of behaving like textbook definitions of humans even when alone in their house. Maybe it was for the consistency of it, so that they would never break it outside the house.

    “You’ll be alright, Mark. The Engineer will take one look at you, and he’ll go ‘Aha! I see now what I need to do!’ and you’ll be yourself all over again,” Ruby whispered to her brother. Mark smiled back at her. Even though he was trying to hide it from her, he too was excited about visiting the Engineer.

    “Are you ready?” Her father asked them. Ruby nodded. Quentin had asked for the day off, which Ruby felt odd considering how important his job was and how insignificant he considered his children to be. Caroline also had taken the day off. Her job was more accepting of absences than Quentin’s, though. Caroline easily got shorter working hours and longer off time than others. It was lucky that she had been home yesterday when Ruby had visited.

    The family walked out of the house together, with Ruby firmly gripping Mark’s hand. Her parents led the way to the sleek automobile in the garage. It was given to automatons only for long trips, such as from one part of their small world to the other, and the family used it as such.

    Silence filled the car as they drove. No one really felt the need to say anything. Mark was too excited, Ruby was too anxious, and her parents were probably thinking of what they were missing at work in their minds.

    The Engineer’s building came into view. Ruby got out of the car, closing the door after Mark. They approached the sleek-looking building with caution. The door swung open to reveal a groomed inside, shiny linoleum floors, brown wallpapered walls, and a receptionist automaton writing busily behind a desk.

    Quentin walked forward, speaking in low tones to the woman, explaining what they had come for. She nodded and continued writing.

    “The Engineer is ready to see us,” her father announced, walking down the hallway briskly and expecting his family to follow. Of course they did. Ruby slowed down slightly to accommodate for Mark.

    The Engineer’s room came into full view, a black door with his name in white letters. They entered another polished room. Three chairs were set up against the side of the wall, and the room was relatively small. Another door led to the examining room no doubt.

    The Engineer came out of the room mere seconds after they had entered.

    “Marcus, my dear boy, it would seem you have a malfunction?” The Engineer asked, looking at his small tablet. Mark nodded.

    “Ah, I will take a look and see what precisely the problem is.” The Engineer’s face stretched into a smile. “And you, may sit here until I am finished,” he pointed to the chairs for Ruby and her parents.

    “Rubes?” Mark asked a little panicked as the Engineer waited patiently for him to follow.

    “Go on, he’ll find out how to help you,” Ruby encouraged Mark. He seemed to get that no harm would come to him, and followed the Engineer inside the room. The door closed leaving Ruby alone with her parents. Awkwardness filled the room at an alarming rate. No one had made a move to sit down in the chairs. Ruby pretended to be engrossed in a painting.

    She strained her ears but could not hear any noises from the room beside them. The minutes ticked by, and still no one moved. It wasn’t necessary for automatons to sit down, but most did in imitation of humans.  

    The door opened again, with Mark looking relieved but confused. The Engineer smiled again at the family.

    “I have discovered the problem that your dear Mark has,” he proclaimed loudly. Ruby winced. She really wished he wouldn’t tack that adjective to her Mark. No one really deserved to refer to someone they didn’t know as ‘dear’.

    “And it is?” her father asked his voice bored.

    “There has indeed been a malfunction happening in Mark’s dear body. It appears that some sort of virus has gotten and attached itself to his lungs, causing them to go out of whack. It has spread quickly throughout his body,”

    Mark’s face whitened at the description of his disease in front of his very eyes.

    “To cure him of his disease, many parts of him will simply have to be replaced. Unfortunately this would require a large amount of minutes. These replacements will take awhile to get, for I will need to call the government for them. This will cost even more minutes. Mark needs also a sufficient amount of minutes to live on if he is to survive until then. Unless, of course, you are perfectly happy with him becoming inanimate for a few months during which we could arrange for a nice place for him here. I have many-”

    Ruby interrupted the Engineer sickened by the way his words were going. She especially did not want Mark to hear a stranger discussing his ‘inanimaticy.’

    “That won’t be necessary, Mr. Engineer, sir. We will pay up front,” Ruby said hastily.  

    Her father looked pained for a moment. He did not agree with his daughter’s outburst. Her mother transferred her father’s anger by giving Ruby a look. It was eerie how they could do that. All the while, Mark kept staring past Ruby, his face ashen.

    “Oh! Good. We always like it when a family member is willing to pay for another’s sickness. Too many good automatons go to waste from such selfish creatures,” Ruby wanted to hit him. Her dislike for him was growing with each passing sentence.

    “Yes, I do understand what you mean,” Quentin sympathized, his voice neutral.

    “Caroline? Can you take Mark to the car? I have some last minute things to clear up with this good Engineer,” her father informed Ruby’s mother. She nodded and clamped her hand around Mark’s, turning around and walking out of the doorway. Mark twisted his head around at the last moment and gave Ruby a look. She tried to ignore the message. Don’t do anything foolish.

    Too late for that, Ruby thought dryly.