One Man’s Trash

“What is that contraption?” the Builder asked.

“Something I’ve been experimenting with,” Lavinia replied.

She was near the center of the bridge, and the Builder was curiously watching her as she installed the cannon. Lavinia had to wonder if the giant was that interested in every human who wandered by, or if there was something special about her.

“That explains nothing,” the Builder said.

“Alright, so it’s like this. There’s a buncha old stuff what washes down the river, some from Back Before and some new.” She patted the cannon, shaking the net bundle attached to the barrel. “So, I cobbled this together to see what I can fish up with it.”

The Builder looked from Lavinia’s spot on the bridge to the water below.

“Will it reach far enough to catch anything?”

“I think so, I’ve got about a hundred ‘n fifty feet of line coiled up in here. Only one way to find out, though.”

Lavinia aimed the cannon at the center of the water. She squeezed the trigger and the metal-ribbed net blasted forward, opening in the air as the Builder watched. Then it landed straight onto the thin island towards the center of the river.

“You missed,” the Builder announced.

“Aw, dang it.” Lavinia looked over, “Could you maybe give me a hand…?”

The Builder carefully picked up the net and tossed it over into the water. The line kept stretching; at least it didn’t get stuck on something else. After a few moments, a light flashed on the back of the cannon.

“Alrighty, we got something!”

Lavinia pressed a button and the cannon started reeling in.

“It could just be a fish,” the Builder asked.

“Heck, I don’t think there’s any of them near around, what with you in the water,” Lavinia said. “N-No offense…”

The net soon broke the water’s surface and ascended back up to the bridge. Lavinia pulled the net over and set it down, opening it from the console. The net released only a pile of muddy rocks onto the pavement. Lavinia puffed out her cheeks, her hands on her hips.

“A bunch of rocks? I wanted treasure…”

“Would you like to know the statistical odds of finding treasure by firing into this river?” the Builder asked.

“Maybe after the next few tries,” Lavinia said.

She reset the net and aimed it further to the right, firing again. And on and on she went, pulling up nothing but rocks, scraps of old metal, a few rusted license plates, and one very unhappy turtle which the Builder released back into the water. After about an hour, the Builder had gone back to work, and Lavinia was ready to call it a day. The concept worked in theory, but maybe it was a bad spot for it. The construction in the nearby ruins could have at least knocked a few useful relics into the river, but maybe all that ended up there was rubble. She stretched and looked up at the sky; it must have been near three in the afternoon.

“Alright, last try for today…” she said.

She fired the net out again and waited for it to sink. It got further than the other efforts—maybe all the other shots cleared the rocks out of the way? But after a few more seconds the light flashed on the console and she began the retraction.

Hope I didn’t get that turtle again…

The net hooked back to the cannon and she pulled it around to the floor. When Lavinia opened it up, the resulting squeal attracted the Builder over again.

“What did you find?” it asked.

“Look, look!” Lavinia said, showing it the open net.

In it was more of the same—scraps of junk from Back Before—but so much more. Several yellow rocks shimmered in the center of the net. The Builder zoomed in, examining them.

“Oh my,” it said. “According to my analysis, you’ve discovered gold.”

“Huh? Oh, yeah, I guess. But more importantly,” she brushed away the chunks of gold and held up a seafoam green bottle, “I found this pretty bottle! It’s even my favorite color!”

“That… is very impressive. You do know that gold was a highly profitable commodity in the old war, correct?”

“But I don’t want gold, I want this neat bottle,” Lavinia said.

She picked the glass up and turned it all around. She didn’t know what to expect with her experiment—relics, an old tire, maybe even mecha components. But that bottle was so much better.

“I’m gonna put this right on the mantle when I get home.” She tucked the bottle away in her bag and held up the gold. “D’ you want this stuff?”

The Builder shook its head, “I have no use for it either.”

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“Oh, well, back you go.”

Lavinia dumped the other contents of the net back over the side of the bridge. She and the Builder watched it fall, until the satisfying splash into the water below.

“Heh, love that part,” Lavinia said.

“It is rather pleasing,” the Builder replied.

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Failing to Bridge the Uncanny Valley

The automated door to Blackwell’s Market slid opened for Lavinia and Arlo. They walked through and Lavinia grabbed a basket while Arlo glanced around. It was quiet that morning, making it impossible to ignore the buzzing of the fluorescent lights.

“Why did I need to come with you?” he asked.

“It’s good for you to get out of the house now and again,” she said.

Arlo grimaced at the yellowed linoleum floors and worn shelves lined with dusty crates of goods. There was a reason he preferred staying in home, where he could maintain a preferred level of cleanliness. That market was… questionable.

“Well, hey there, Ms. Lavinia,” Bernard said, striding over to them.

“Morning, Bernard!” she said. “And it’s just—”

“I know, I know, apologies Lavinia. Who’s this li’l fella?” he asked.

Arlo stepped behind Lavinia, and she smiled and rested a hand on his shoulder.

“This is Arlo, my… roommate I s’pose. Arlo, this is Bernard Blackwell.”

“Nice t’ meet you, son,” Bernard said, smiling at the child.

“H-Hello…” Arlo replied.

Bernard turned back to Lavinia and they started talking about a courier or vegetables or something, but Arlo wasn’t listening. He thought the market being empty meant that he wouldn’t have to meet any strangers. People always stared at his eyepatch and pinned sleeve… But now he was stuck between not wanting to make look up at the old man and not wanting to stare off at the less-than-clean market. Arlo turned and walked away from the two as they kept talking.

Maybe other parts of the market are cleaner… he thought.

After passing the next few aisles, he stopped. Someone was standing towards the front of the store motionless. But as Arlo looked over them from the other side of the aisle—at their segmented limbs and unmoving “clothes”—he realized it wasn’t a human.

“Some kind of mecha…?”

Arlo walked over to it. He hadn’t encountered another like him since waking up in Lavinia’s workshop. But for some reason this one wasn’t moving. When he got up to it, he saw it was bolted to the floor and a bit rusted. It looked vaguely human-ish, with a wide grin and big, cartoony eyes on a waxy metal face. If it was a mecha, it was totally different from the model Arlo was.

“Hello,” he said. “I’m Arlo.”

The mecha said nothing.

“Erm… Are you a mecha, like me? I haven’t met any others yet.”

There was still no response.

“Or are you just a statue?” Arlo sighed, “I should have guessed, you—”

The figure’s eyes suddenly lit up and it jerked towards Arlo, “SHOP SMART AND SAVE, ONLY ATTtttt…”

Before its last bit of energy could fade again, Arlo was already and running as fast as he could. The animatronic slumped forward at the same time the boy bolted out of the automatic front door.

***

“Sorry ol’ Shop Smart Sam scared your boy,” Bernard said. “Reckon it used to be this place’s old mascot Back Before, so he’s a mite dinged up.”

“Oh, no, it’s alright!” Lavinia forced a smile, “Arlo’s just… well, he’ll be okay. Don’t think I’ll be getting him to come back anytime soon…”

“Mm. Say, any chance you could take a look at Sam? Been meaning t’ get him fixed for a time now.”

“Sure thing, I’ll add him to the repair list. But, uh…” She looked out from the market’s door, where Arlo was at the edge of the parking lot glaring at the building. “Probably better to work on him here rather than my workshop back home.”

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Lavinia Meets Her Crush

“I don’t know about this…” Arlo said, looking up at the tavern.

“It’s okay, this place don’t have any animatronics,” Lavinia said. “We’re just gonna go in, order our dinner, then take it back home.”

She went into Vic’s with Arlo close behind her. Every time she’d stopped by on her own, there were about a handful of people around. That would at least keep from overwhelming the boy until he could get acclimated to the town. But of course, when they walked through the door that evening, the tavern was full of people.

Lavinia glanced down at Arlo; he was watching the crowd hesitantly, but he wouldn’t have to engage with them. She walked over to the counter, where she found a familiar face also watching the crowd while they wiped down the bar.

“Hey, Vic,” she called over.

Vic slung the towel over a shoulder and went over to her. “Oh, hey Lavinia. You here for the contest?”

“Nah, we’re just stopping in to get dinner. What contest?”

“A drinking contest, something to try and drum up more business,” they said.

Lavinia smiled, “Is that why you’re finally cleaned up? Looks like you even washed your apron for once.”

Arlo looked up at Lavinia appalled; not only was that rude, but the bartender was at least twice her size. Vic only laughed, though.

“You’re one to talk, I can count on one hand how many times I’ve seen you without grease stains all over your face. And that’s good, since Ivy Tower Radio is covering the contest too…” they added, motioning down the bar.

Lavinia looked past Vic, and her heart skipped a beat. There at the end was a woman she’d seen a few time and heard more often. Mae sat there sipping from a glass, her dyed green hair brushed back out of her face. Arlo looked down at her too.

“Ivy Tower Radio…” he muttered. “Is that the woman you like listening to?”

Lavinia’s face turned beet red as Vic laughed again. They nudged Lavinia forward a bit.

“Why don’t you go talk to her?” they asked.

“M-Me? Talk to her?” Lavinia shook her head, “No, no way, I couldn’t—I mean, it’s not like she’d even be into me…”

“Right, of course, I understand.”

Vic went back behind the bar and filled up another glass while Lavinia fanned her face. Arlo sat up in a stool and looked over at the crowd again, then Vic returned.

“Hey, Mae! Got a refill for you here.”

She looked over and went down towards them while Lavinia continued to short-circuit. Mae took the drink and thanked Vic.

“Hey,” she said to Lavinia while sipping the drink.

“H-Hi,” Lavinia replied. “You’re—I like your hair.”

“Oh. Thanks.” She looked over Lavinia. “You’re… Lavina, right?”

“You almost know my name…?”

“I’ve seen you around here before. Plus the fliers for your repair shop all over town.” She drank again, “Are you in the contest?”

“The contest?”

Lavinia looked from Mae to the crowd as people sat at a long table. Then she turned back; Arlo shook his head but Vic gave her a thumbs up.

“… Yes,” she said. “Yes I am.”

Mae smiled, “Wanna give me a quote before it starts, then?”

Lavinia’s face turned beet red again. “S-Sure, okay!”

***

Lavinia slowly came to on a couch, dizzy and her head pounding. The sunlight filtering through the windows was like a spotlight directly into her face. She sat up and the dizziness compounded with her churning stomach almost overwhelmed her.

“Ugh…” she groaned. “What happened…?”

“Good morning, Ms. Lavinia,” Arlo greeted, setting down a cup of tea.

“Arlo…?”

“I’m glad you’re awake, I was starting to get worried.”

She sat up the rest of the way, rubbing her head. She was back in her home, though she couldn’t remember how or why. The whole night after meeting Mae was a blur. She took the tea and sipped it; at least it helped cover the nasty taste in her mouth.

“Did I win the thing…?” she asked.

“Erm… no. You entered, the contest began, and you passed out after two drinks,” Arlo said.

“Aw, man… Did Mae see me?”

“Actually, she left this for you.”

Arlo held out a note and she took it, reading it slowly.

“‘Stop by the studio sometime, Mae’.”

Lavinia paused. Then she squealed and fell back onto the couch, hugging the note.