The Climb
Total Read Time: 14-21 minutes
The bustling shuffle of feet was an ever-present white noise at the crowded starport, and the appetizing smell of baked goods and fast food drifted from every corner. There were all sorts of people moving about, mostly non-human, but my attention was entirely focused on a specific Tadori mechanic. Even crouched, he was freakishly tall, and I watched him work intently. It was the first time I had ever seen one of his kind up close.
He sighed impatiently, wiping sweat off his brow and mumbling under his breath. Then, he snapped at me. “What are you looking at, human-ling?”
“Nothin’,” I shrugged, and continued to stare up at him.
He shook his head and bent over to lift a large battery pack with his major hands, then slid it into the vehicle’s engine and used an electric screwdriver with his minor hands to lock it into place.
“You’re blue,” I noted, referring to his skin, not his uniform, which was made of ripstop fabrics, white with black vertical stripes on the sides, greasy, wrinkled, and with four sleeves, one for each of his arms.
“Really?” He asked in mock surprise. “I hadn’t noticed.”
“What?” I scoffed doubtfully. “You never looked in a mirror?”
He rolled his eyes. “Never.” He said, his nasally voice coming in double, always followed by an echo from within his throat. “Lucky thing you came around, otherwise I’d have remained ignorant for the rest of my long, long days.”
I chortled, saying, “Your voice sounds weird,” and moved around him to get a better view of his work.
“Your observational skills never cease to amaze, little human. What will your wisdom reveal next?”
“I dunno,” I shrugged.
He pulled away from the engine hatch and flicked several switches on the side of the hull. The vehicle thrummed to life, and a digital gauge appeared on the monitor, filling up with cyan bars, as the platform began to levitate on its anti-gravity emitters.
He barely managed to smile before the whole thing collapsed—grav-emitters failing, light snuffing out, the electric thrum dying in a shriek.
“Oh, damn you!” He cussed, smashing a major fist against the side of the cargo-hauler. “Blasted thing,” he added, and huddled to look through the engine hatch, once again.
“Can I ask you a question?” I said, as he reached into the hatch with one of his minor arms.
“My, my, I doubt there is anything I— Ugh!” He grunted as he pulled out a cable and transferred it to one of his major hands, which then put it aside. “I doubt there is anything I could tell you you don’t already know, wise little human.” He pulled a replacement cable from his toolbox.
“Probably,” I agreed, with all the confidence of a six-year-old, and thumbed the belt of my oversized cargo pants. “But I wanna try anyway.”
“Very well,” he said, burying his head through the hatch. “I shall hear this query of yours.” His voice echoed quadruply from inside the engine hull.
“Why do you have four arms?”
“Wha— Oouff!” He cried as his head banged against the hatch, and he pulled himself out to glare at me. “What?”
I took a deep breath and restated my question, loud and clear. “Why. Do you. Have. Four arms?”
“Ahh— Well— I—” he stammered, bewildered by the question. “Well… why do you have two?” He answered defensively.
I beamed. It was a wonderful question, and one I had never considered before. I took a long minute and thought about it deeply before I replied.
“To hug my mom.”
“Aww,” he cooed.
“And bully my sister.”
“Oh!”
“Can’t do that with one hand, trust me, I’ve tried… doesn’t work as well.”
“Why, I wouldn’t dare doubt you, Mister— Eh…?”
“Lorrian, Lorrian Quincy. My friends call me Lorr.”
“Yes. Lorrian.” He said, burying his head through the hatch again. “What can I say? That’s the duality of mankind for you: hug your mom, bully your sister. Truly, you are an exemplar of your unscrupulous race, little human-ling.”
“Thank you!” I said, chest swelling with pride.
“Wha— that wasn’t—” he snorted, then sighed. “Of course, you’re welcome.”
“I bet I could do that better if I had four hands, though,” I said.
“What was that again?”
“Hug my mom.”
“Ahh… and bully your sister, right, right.”