Meats threw on the top half of his suit as he pushed through the maintenance office door. It wasn't so much an office as a garage, a few partially dismantled cherry pickers taking up the majority of the space. To his surprise Siobhan wasn't running the newbies through the safety briefs or the mock ups of common system errors like she usually would have.

The place was completely empty. Not even so much as a half eaten fruit bar or a quarter full coffee cup left over from the shift before. Meats sat down at his desk and opened his company computer. He sifted through a few emails, the majority of which pertained to the accident from that afternoon, and then closed it again.

He drummed his fingers on the thin metal desk, waiting for something, anything that needed doing to grab his attention. He was supposed to track down the missing picker, but that was something he needed to plan a bit for. And that took time, not to mention motivation. Motivation he was sorely lacking at the moment.

As the minutes dragged on, Meats' mind tried as hard as it could to avoid remembering the box from the night before. He stared at the calendar, but all he saw were boxes. He tried the bolt and nut organizers, more boxes.

'Maybe the tool bo-... Oh, no, now you've already gone and ruined it. Shit.' He thought, rubbing his eyes. It didn't work. It never worked.

He was nearly about to give up on the whole endeavor when Siobhan opened up one of the garage doors. A blast of significantly colder air blew through the office. She shut the door swiftly behind her and placed some papers on her desk. She was alone.

"Uh, where are the newbies?" Meats asked, gesturing to the room devoid of trainees. Siobhan looked up from the forms she was signing.

"Replacing a rack strut. We found a bent one in room twelve." She replied, looking back down at the paperwork. Meats craned his neck to read them. They were training certifications.

"Um, why?" Meats asked, trying to sound as far from critical as he could. He'd never seen Siobhan let anyone out of the office after any less than two days of slideshows and tests. Even he'd been in this office for half a week, as long ago as that may have been. He'd only become head of the department because she had declined the position three times already.

"They're ready for it." Siobhan answered, pausing for a moment to think beforehand.

"I took the better half of a week before you let me out of here. And, I'd already had warehouse experience." Meats said, taken aback by her nonchalance. Siobhan paused, not to think, but to smile.

"You weren't ready." She replied, placing her initials in a couple of places on the forms. Meats deflated. As much as he may have hated the idea of training anyone, he hated the feeling of being useless even more.

"Alright then. Wont question it, but I want to go out and see for myself." He grumbled, hoisting himself out of his chair. As he sauntered over to the garage door and leaned down to heave the door open Meats stopped.

There were voices, Tom and Kady's by the sound of it. They were joking perhaps. No, too serious. Their voices carried the flavor of an argument, a relatively light one, but an argument none-the-less.

"Why'd you choose a pop star?" The higher pitched of the two voices said. It was almost a whisper, even as it drew closer. Meats suspected this was Tom. Even doing falsetto Kady's voice out bassed his by two full octaves.

"Why'd you choose someone li-" The deeper voice said, seeming more nervous than angry. Meats couldn't make out the last bit.

"Well it's usually not the same. This time h-" Tom said, again cutting the end off of the sentence.

"Alright, well I guess I got lucky then. We'll have to b-" Kady agreed. Meats decided this was a good time to interrupt the two newbies. He was getting tired of waiting for them to finish their little spat.

"You two done then I guess?" Meats said, pulling open the heavy garage door as quickly and alarmingly as he could muster with his one good shoulder. The pair froze in perfect unison. Kady was seemingly about to pull something out of the neck of her suit, while Tom was busy putting one of his gloves back on.

"Yes, we are Mister Meats. Where should we put this?" Kady answered, gesturing towards a bent strut that Tom was shouldering. Neither Meats nor Tom attempted to make eye contact.

"Just put it over there with the rest of the salvagables. They come by to take them every few weeks." Meats explained, never taking his eyes off of Tom as he placed the strut with its fellows in a pile near one of the garage doors.

He'd said the kid looked familiar earlier and he hadn't lied entirely. The name he'd given him had been a familiar one, but it certainly didn't belong to this kid's uncle. Mainly because Dante Mattheson had been dead for years. He'd not only been the first person who had ever tried to kill Meats, he'd been the only person Meats had ever killed himself.

"How's your uncle doing by the way? Been a long time since I've seen him." Meats asked, looking over the bend in the strut Tom had just put down. Tom paused for a moment.

"Oh, he's doing well. Still working." He answered, continuing to wipe off a wrench with a rag. Meats watched the meticulous care the kid was taking at that as well. No maintenance man he'd ever known took care of tools they hadn't paid for that well.

"Mister Meats, I was wondering if you could give me any pointers to staying warm out there. I am cold blooded so it would be nice to know of any tricks of the trade." Kady asked, pulling Meats' attention away from Tom.

"Well Miss Kady, that seems like a question better suited to Siobhan. She knows a hell of a lot more than me about that sort of thing. Chemical warmers maybe." Meats answered, trying not to let Tom out of his sight. He didn't want to put the young woman out but there was something about Tom that wasn't adding up.

"Well, now that you're available, I need you for a little project Tom. Go grab a cherry picker for me would you? We're going on a trip." Meats announced, slapping Tom on the shoulder in as "good ole boy" a way as he could. He tried to smile in the way Benny had always smiled at him before an incredibly frustrating bit of work came down the pipe.

"Uh, huh. Just us? Not uh Kady too? We're both new so..." Tom said, but before he could protest further Meats was already ushering him out of the side door.

"Nope, just you and me. Should be quick. Plus, I think Kady could learn a thing or two from Siobhan about the warmers. If you stay here long enough they give you an order sheet and you can get your own electric ones. We can talk about that too once we get back, but for now just go grab picker 22 from the charger." Meats explained, shutting the door behind the exasperated young man.

He turned around to Siobhan giving him an eyeless but no less amused look. Meats waltzed back over to his desk and grabbed one of the files from his drawer. He placed it in front of him and opened the manila folder, gesturing for Kady to have a seat in front of him.

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"Now, Miss Kaltakas I-" Meats began, shuffling the papers around in no particular fashion.

"Ah, It's Mrs. Not Miss, sir. I'm married." Kady corrected, giving Meats one of those smiles newly wedded people have when they find the chance to bring it up.

"Ah, well I'm sure your uh..." Meats started, catching himself on the pronoun bit. He wasn't going to assume too quickly.

"Husband." Kady clarified, unabashed glee practically dripping from the word. It must have been relatively recent, Meats had to stop himself checking to make sure his folder wasn't soaked on the bottom from the happiness.

"Husband, is a very good man, but I'd actually like to talk to you about Tom out there. You two seem to know each other from before. Know anything about his background?" Meats continued. He would have given her relationship more consideration had he not been trying to root out whether the man would take a piece of pallet wood to his head when his back was turned.

It was the eyes. Those eyes of his made Meats nervous. They were the same eyes Dante had back when they were young. Tired, worn out, but still intensely focused. For Dante it had been his need for money and clout. Meats needed to find out what Toms eyes were so focused on. Primarily so he could avoid getting between him and whatever that was.

"Well, we worked together at our previous job. I mean you can ask him yourself, I'm sure he'll be back soon. The chargers are pretty close by aren't they?" Kady answered, nervously looking at the garage door.

"Oh, I think he'll be a little while. A lot of pickers to sort through to find 22. It's a rather elusive one." Meats said, smirking a bit at Siobhan. Kadys eyes shifted between the two confusedly. Siobhan pointed a claw towards one of the air jacks. Kady observed a spray painted 22 on the side of the picker on top of it, currently in the midst of being disassembled.

"So, while I'm sure Tom himself would have a hell of a story for me as to why he's lying about his name and where he comes from, I'd like to hear your take." Meats explained, closing the manila folder and waiting patiently.

"I don't think I get what you mean sir. I'm pretty sure Tom's his name and I've known him for a few years. And as for where he comes from, I can't tell you much 'cept it sounded pretty rough. Some mining township near the end of the west Wall." Kady answered. Meats heard the hint of a quiver in her voice. He couldn't tell where the anxiety might be coming from, but it didn't seem worth pressing the subject.

"Well, don't worry. I'm not thinking of turning him in if he is. God knows we still need the help around here. It doesn't bother me much for someone to have a past, as long as their future contains pulling their weight, and not bringing that past in through that door." Meats assured the young woman.

The choice of name still jabbed at him, and he was sure Kady knew more than she was letting on, but he was no saint either. The look in her eyes was more of desperate concern than aggressive denial. It was probably a more personal issue than she was letting on. Meats threw a glance towards Siobhan. If she could stare she would be.

“Alright, well, I uh, guess it isn’t that important. I’m not going to report anything to the plant manager, no need for anything unnecessary. No need to say anything to him about it either. I’ll have a quick conversation with him in a bit. Once he finds picker 22, that is.” Meats continued. Siobhans grin grew slightly wider. Meats hadn’t seen her this amused in a long while.

“Thank you sir. I just don’t think he’d like me talking about it. It’s… personal for him.” Kady commented, relaxing visibly. Meats bobbed his head a bit and straightened out his papers.

“Yeah, okay. Well, Mrs. Keltakas if you wouldn’t mind, I think Tom may need help finding 22. Do you mind going and grabbing him?” Meats asked, a slightly guilty look on his face. He didn’t generally haze his new employees, but he’d needed a bit of time.

Kady nodded and put the rest of her suit on as she opened the garage door. The blast of cold air helped Meats clear his head a bit. He also didn’t generally need to interrogate his employees. This was all a bit over the top for a tuesday. Meats swiveled his chair around.

“And what’s up with you? You seem a lot more cheerful than you did an hour and a half ago.” He asked, scooting the stiff wheels of his chair over towards her desk. She was stapling the sign off papers together and putting them in folders.

"Because today is a rather special day, Meats. Mohk is close to us, and I can see clearer.” She said, sliding the folders into an alphabetically organized cabinet under her desk. She placed Toms folder right next to his with the M’s.

Meats didn’t quite get it. As far as he’d been able to tell she’d always been able to see somehow. In fact, he was sure she had better eyesight than he himself did. She always knew where the tools were, and where they should be put back. Actually, she could always tell where Meats was as well.

“As if you couldn’t see through walls already. What exactly is it you’re seeing today that you couldn’t yesterday? The future?” Meats asked, perhaps with a bit more incredulity than he’d meant to. He’d shot for playful and hit dick instead.

“When you get to my age you can always see the future, in a way. No, Arnold. Today I can see my past.” Siobhan answered, gently shutting the cabinet drawer. Arnold straightened his back a bit. He couldn’t remember if she’d ever called him by his first name before.

“She, uh, reminds you of yourself, does she?” He asked, pointing a thumb out towards the door.

“Oh yes, when I was younger. Married, hopeful, and still using my eyes to see. She has more in common with who I was than you did that’s for sure.” She answered, giving Arnold a light tap with a finger on the top of his head.

“You’re not wrong. Good thing I didn’t stay that way. That’s your doing.” Arnold agreed, making what would have been eye contact with Siobhans headdress. He couldn’t deny he’d been much less stable when he’d come here.

He’d been only a few years out of school when he’d had to leave the city. He was living on scraps, sleeping in his car with Tully. The winter had been almost too much. If he hadn’t had the warmth from Tullys heat sink to keep himself warm he certainly would have frozen to death.

When Siobhan had found out she’d let him stay in an extra room in her ancient house. It had been her husbands study far longer ago than he understood. The books, papers, maps, and calculations that littered the room were far beyond his understanding as well. He must have been incredibly important, both to her and the world.

Arnold had always wondered what had happened to him. Siobhan didn’t have any pictures up, yet always spoke fondly of him. With how old Siobhan was he must have been around with her before humans had ever arrived on Liberum. Old age was pretty much out of the question when it came to Tar-Khal so it must have been something else.

“My husband would have liked you, you know. You’re a good man just like he was.” Siobhan said, pulling open another drawer on the other side of the desk.

“You ever miss him? It seems like it’s been a long time.” Arnold asked, remembering the dates on the papers. The latest ones had been nearly five hundred years ago. He must have died very young for a Tar-Khal.

“Oh, sometimes. For a very long time I missed him every minute of the day. But, I knew I would see him again, and now I feel as if he’s with me all of the time. Almost like I can’t get rid of him.” She answered, a little chuckle punctuating the sentiment.

“You seeing him today too?” Arnold asked, getting a bit of a tear in his eye. He never really saw her get this type of sentimental. Siobhans smile turned a little mischievous for a moment.

“I see him every day, Arnold. Every day.” She answered, shutting the drawer again. Arnold thought about this a bit as he scooted his chair back over to his desk. In a way he could relate. He thought about Rittula every day as well. Most of the time it involved giving her the finger and telling her to never speak to him again. Unfortunately she was his boss so they stayed thoughts.

Meats once again heard the two newbies approaching. They weren’t arguing this time. As they walked back in the door there was almost an aire of tension and uneasiness to them. Meats figured that Kady had told Tom about their little talk. That’s partially why he’d told her not to tell him.

The idea wasn’t to surprise Tom, it was to make him feel as if he had the upper hand. The more time he had to make up something complex the more comfortable he would get. When it came down to it you wanted them comfortable. It made it easier to tell when they weren’t.

“You find the picker out there Tom?” Meats asked, using his best stupid old man in charge voice.

“No, I looked and looked but I-” Tom began before registering the spray painted 22 on the side of the taken apart lift. “I didn’t have much luck.” He finished, sucking on his teeth in irritation. Meats faked a bit of surprise as he “noticed” the same thing.

“Oh, now, I am sorry about that, Tom. You know I went and forgot we’d brought ‘er in yesterday! Well, let’s go grab twenty one then. Twenty two ain’t going to be much use to us up there is it?” Meats bellowed, draping an arm around Toms shoulders and guiding him over towards the door. He shot an ominous and slightly conspiratorial smile at Siobhan over his shoulder as he shut the door behind him.