©2018 David Morgan — 1796 words
Frank Rooney had been the manager of the Shop & Save for thirty-eight years, and he wasn’t retiring anytime soon. It doesn’t matter if that upstart Jimmy Clemens is marrying the owner’s daughter. Frank isn’t going to get pushed out by some forty year old kid. Frank has been trying extra hard to prove his worth to the store ever since Jimmy and the boss’ daughter started dating.
Frank is a tall sixty seven year old man with gray scraggly hair that looks like it hasn’t felt the tender caress of a comb in years. His faint and ambiguous accent may have been from Eastern Europe at some point. There is a betting pool among the store employees about its origin. Nobody has been willing to ask him, though. He is a serious man who smiles around the customers in a practiced way that charms the little old ladies but scares the hell out of small children.
He sits at his desk struggling with the computer. The machine is barely visible between the stacks of binders and shoe boxes full of receipts. Frank has reluctantly decided to convert the store’s bookkeeping to electronic spreadsheets. He doesn’t like computers, or trust technology in general. Daniel, the energetic fifteen year old bag boy, convinced Frank that computers were the future. It is 1983 after all. He decided that going digital would prove to the owner that he was not only still relevant, but cutting edge.
“What do these people know about cutting edge technology? I built more powerful machines out of scrap metal during the war. Solid state electronics are going to ruin this world.” He grumbles to himself as he picks up the phone and presses the intercom button.
“Daniel Welles please report to the manager’s office.” Frank calls over the store intercom.
A couple of minutes later, the door to the office opens and a skinny boy with a smile full of braces pops his head in. “You need something, Mr. Rooney?”
“It’s this damn DOS, Danny. It keeps telling me my directory is empty. I don’t understand why they can’t make these things so you can talk to them. I tell my dog to sit and he sits. Why can’t my computer be as smart as a dog?” Frank gets out of his chair and gestures for Daniel to take his place in front of the machine.
Daniel sits at the computer and starts typing commands into the text interface. Frank leans down to get a closer look at a red mark on the boy’s cheek.
“What’s that on your face?” he asks.
Daniel rubs the lipstick off. He blushes slightly. “Mrs. Myers was in here again. She comes almost everyday to buy something small like a loaf of bread or a can of cat food. Every time she does, she asks me to carry the bag out to her car. Then she plants a big ol’ kiss on me.”
“She’s a lonely old widow. She’s just sweet on you, that’s all.” Frank replies.
“I don’t know. She squeezed my butt this time. I think she might think we’re dating or something.” Daniel seems disturbed by that thought. He taps another command on the keyboard and the screen fills with numbers. “There you go, Mr. Rooney. All fixed.”
“Thank you, Danny. You’re a good boy.” Frank sits back down as Daniel walks toward the door.
“Oh, I thought you might like to know, Mr. Abramson is here. Mr. Clemens is with him and Mr. Abramson’s daughter.” Daniel smiles and closes the door behind him.
Frank is agitated by this news. He gets up and opens the door a crack to peek out. “Why is Clemens here on his day off, and why is he parading his bride-to-be around the store?”
Frank walks out and greets his boss. They stand at the front of the store for a while chitchatting while Jimmy and his fiancee walk around looking at the store appearing suspiciously like a newlywed couple at a real estate open house. Frank breaks his small talk with Mr. Abramson occasionally to welcome a customer or inadvertently give their toddler nightmares.
Outside, the sky had been gradually getting darker. The rain started just in time to catch Daniel as he brought carts in from the parking lot. Suddenly, there was a flash of lightning and a loud crack of thunder. The lights went out.
“Mr. Rooney?” Daniel asked.
“Yes, Danny?”
“Did you remember to save your spreadsheet?”
“Damn it!”
An old lady in the checkout line gave Frank a stern look of disapproval at that outburst. Frank realizes he just cursed in front of customers and his boss. Embarrassed, he apologizes and retreats to his office.
An hour later, the power is still off. Frank shuts the store down and sends everyone home. He walks outside and locks the door behind him. It is late in the evening and without the lights on in the parking lot, it is getting hard to see. The storm has passed, but there is still the occasional flash of lightning to illuminate everything for a second at a time. During the last flash, Frank thought he saw something in the parking lot. He walks toward his car with his eyes focused on where he saw that mysterious shape.
The lightning flashes again. This time Frank is sure he sees something. He didn’t get enough detail, but the shape was somehow faintly familiar. It stirs something inside him. Even though he doesn’t know what it is, a feeling of dread tugs at him.
Another flash of light and he stops dead in his tracks. That shape stands only a few feet in front of him. He stands silently for several moments, staring into the darkness. Suddenly, the power comes back on. The parking lot lights flicker and hum loudly. They are dim at first, but get brighter over the next few seconds.
Standing before Frank is a sight he hasn’t seen in forty years. What appears to be a large metal man looms over him. It was built out of steel and iron. Rivets hold its seams together and give the thing the appearance of a humanoid battleship. Two sharp “S” shapes painted on its chest look like twin lightning bolts.
“It can’t be. How can you be here?” Frank asks breathlessly.
“I have found you, Dr. Kraus. It has taken years, but I have tracked you here.” the thing answers.
“You speak English now?” Frank is incredulous.
“Forty years is a long time to learn. I have learned much.” it answers. Its voice is monotone and mechanical.
“I thought the British army destroyed you. How did you survive? Where have you been?” asks an excited Mr. Rooney nee Dr. Kraus.
“I escaped the English after the war ended and returned to the Motherland to find you, but you were gone. I followed other members of the party to Argentina, but you were not there.” The things voice sounds as metallic as its skin. “After the war, I was without purpose. Without you, I was without direction. So, I sought a new mission. I worked as a Gaucho for a while, but I broke the spines of many horses, and they asked me to leave. After that, I traveled to the United States, and worked as an actor in science fiction movies.”
“That’s amazing.” Frank studies the thing, inspecting its many dents and scratches.
“Then I worked in the adult film industry for a while. That was a dark time. I would rather not talk about it.” The robot tilts its head in shame.
“Oh, my beautiful Dreadnought! You were my greatest creation. Why have you sought me out once more? The war is over. The Reich was destroyed.” Frank shrugs his shoulders. “We lost.”
“You are my creator. My loyalty is to you, Doctor. I would have traversed the globe as many times as necessary to rejoin you.” the metal beast replies. “You will not get that kind of dedication from a semiconductor.”
“I know, right? I’ve got an IBM in the office that would sell me out to the International Military Tribunal in a heartbeat.” Frank’s spirits lift. He feels like a long lost pet has returned home.
“Together, Dr. Kraus, we will rebuild the party and finally bring Europe to heel.” the robot announces proudly.
“I have a better idea. I’ve been waging a war of sorts of my own. Your re-appearance has come at the perfect time. You are exactly what I need to tip the battle in my favor.”
#
The next morning, the storm has passed and birds are chirping. Frank is excited. He nervously waits for Daniel in the parking lot. When Daniel’s mother pulls up in front of the store, he catches the boy as he gets out of the car and asks Daniel’s mother to not leave yet.
“Is everything okay, Mr. Rooney?” Daniel asks.
“Yes, my boy. Everything is wunderbar. However, there is something I need to talk to you about. I’m sorry, Danny. You’re a great bag boy, but I’m afraid I have to let you go.”
Daniel is stunned. Just then, the automatic doors to the store swoosh open. Out walks Mrs. Myers. She smiles and waves at Daniel. Following her is a seven and a half foot tall, nine hundred pound robot wearing an apron that barely covers the Schutzstaffel symbol on its chest. The metal monster gingerly carries a grocery bag containing one can of cat food and a TV Guide.
“What in the world is that?” Daniel asks. His eyes stay glued on the robot as it walks out to Mrs. Myers’ car.
“That, my boy, is the future. I’m afraid I’m replacing you with automation.” Frank answers.
“But it has a machine gun sticking out of its chest!” Daniel cringes when he sees the robot bend down to place the bag in the trunk of the old lady’s car. She brazenly grabs its metal heinie. He can faintly hear her ask the robot if the “SS” on its chest stands for “Shop & Save” and then she compliments it on how firm its backside is.
“I’m sorry, Danny, but he’s going to save the store a lot of money. Modernizing was your idea after all. Der Fuhrer… I mean Mr. Abramson is coming in this afternoon to see it in action.
“I think he’s going to be very pleased with me.” The old man shakes his fist at the sky, “There’s no way his worthless son is getting this store!”
The former bag boy stares at him confused and a little frightened.
“Say, Danny,” the old man leans in and asks in a hushed tone, “Do you know where I could pick up some uranium?”
