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A padded sage bench stood before the VR unit, which still reminded her of a squashed soda dispenser, although one with rails for track lighting extending outwards like stick arms. Her eyes narrowed to the right side, where a familiar grey tail curled outward. “Lloyd,” she thought, smiling. The rest of him would be splayed up against the side of the power supply, soaking up its warmth. She pushed the square button with Jeffrey’s picture on it, and then sat down. She’d never forget the time that Lloyd was chasing some dream-rabbit and knocked the power off in mid-chase. She’d put a cat-proof cover over the switch after that.
A holographic Jeffrey (the only Jeffrey she knew) materialized into existence a few feet before her, spinning around in a forest green captain’s chair. He tucked in his legs so that he wouldn’t hit his own VR unit, but it still amazed her that he hadn’t hit it yet. He was always tweaking, customizing, always pushing the boundaries of anything involving technology.
“So what happens when you finally hit it?” she asked.
“I’ve got a plan for that,” he said. She looked at him in playful disbelief. This was one of his famous phrases, and she knew that she guaranteed a reality-defying explanation.
“A very small, very localized random meteor shower.”
She burst out laughing. “Really?”
“That’s not the only plan!” he said, pretending to be offended. “Ratan could have fried his memory and attacked it.”
“Ratan?” Ratan, his rat-sized robot, was way too small to damage the VR unit.
“Well, that’s all I have. What about you?” he asked.
“I’m thinking sports accident.”
“Tommy and his hockey stick?”
She thought about it for a second. “Do you think it would fly?”
He fiddled with the frames of his glasses, which always meant that he was thinking. “It just might. He hasn’t broken anything in a month, so he’s due!”
“Yes!” she said, and they both reached towards the unit at the same time for a high-five. Their hands passed through one another.
He spun the chair around. “Whoo hoo! Just two more days!”
“I know!” It would be three for her, but she didn’t want to dampen his enthusiasm; just talking about it sent frissions of expectation across her skin. It was the perfect cure for her thoughts, today.
“He’s even got the annuals this time, and he’s bringing me spare robot parts.”
She laughed. “You Do need them.”
“You can never have enough robot parts!”
“I heard that he has real Earth candy this time, too.”
“No way! It better not be stale.” Three months ago, he had brought them leftovers from some company that went out of business, and they hadn’t let him live it down.
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