Page 35 of Garbage

Tonight had been fun, even if everything he learned left him with a dozen more questions. He felt like he was kind of getting the hang of this whole people thing, though.

“Did I do alright tonight?” he asked Evan.

Evan squeezed his arm. “You were perfect. Everybody liked you.”

“I liked them, too.” He looked up. “Ooh! Look at the moon.”

“It’s full tonight,” Evan commented. “Thanks for showing me.”

“It’s right in front of us.” Quincy wasn’t sure that he’d actually done anything.

“Yes, but you make me notice things. You make them special.”

Oh. Quincy felt warm and shivery down to his toes. “The moon is always special.” It had been his companion for so long.

And it was still there, glowing and beautiful.

Only now he had friends.

And Evan, who was the specialist thing of all.

Chapter 9

Quincy

Quincy’s collection of memories was growing with impressive speed. It seemed like every time he mentioned something, or that Evan told a story, there were more experiences for him to explore.

All day at work, Quincy replayed and refreshed them, remembering all the details of learning to throw a frisbee in the park, or the look on Evan’s face when Quincy had made Welsh rarebit for him. It didn’t involve any rabbit meat like the name implied, but was a kind of baked cheese on toast.

He played back, over and over again, the first time he’d petted the neighbor’s cat, and how she’d purred and moved just like the kitties in the videos. Now he had his own kitty movies.

He listened to whole concerts again, enjoying Evan’s voice as he explained little things while they sat on the blanket under the stars.

His memories were his treasures.

He knew that his data banks were nowhere close to full, and that Ben could get him more when he ran out of space. But he didn’t understand the strange alchemy that had made him forget so many things over the years, and he didn’t want to risk losing a single one.

Evan still insisted on adding to his memories every day. That was for Experiences and Engagement; two of the seven E’s that Quincy would need to be registered as a spark. Experiences meant that Quincy had done different things and noticed that some were more meaningful than others.

Quincy wasn’t sure how it was possible to decide, because all of his experiences were special, and almost all of them involved Evan. He hoped he wouldn’t fail that part of the test.

Engagement, though, meant choosing things that he enjoyed, and taking initiative. So far, he had cooking, makeup, animated movies, and taking care of his plant for that one. He was pretty sure some of those had to count.

But Evan was always taking him on more outings, or showing him things at home. It seemed like there weren’t enough hours in the day.

Actually, there were plenty of hours, just not enough between the time when Quincy got home from work and Evan went to sleep. Quincy felt like he was starving sometimes for more time with his friend, even though they spent every evening together.

He wasn’t sure how to explain it.

The next night, Evan took him out to get fitted for a tuxedo, one of the last things from his original list of clothing choices.

To Quincy’s surprise, the tailor was another spark!

Quincy was sure that Evan had arranged that on purpose, so he could see another spark at work.

The tailor’s body had clearly been designed for the express purpose of making clothes. He had elegantly designed attachments for snipping, measuring, and sewing, his little round body rising up on a telescoping column when he needed to reach Quincy’s shoulders.

He explained that he’d worked for years in another tailor’s shop, and when he’d become a spark, his only desire had been to own his own shop where he could keep doing what he loved, but with more control over the designs.