The Monster Machine

The Mechanic

"Tova... Tova... Hey, wake up."

Tova blinked and raised her head, "Wha... hm?"

"C'mon, it's time to get up."

Tova sat up and rubbed her eyes. She moved the blanket off of her and looked up.

"What time is it? Why is it so dark in here?"

"Oh, I turned off the power to house. I don't want anything going off while we're working. And it helps to conserve energy too. C'mon."

Argo walked into the kitchen for a moment as Tova stretched and waited for her eyesight to adjust to the darkness.

"We're going to start working right now?"

"Yep. We're going straight to work. Got a lot to do today. The faster we get to work, the sooner we can relax," Argo mentioned as he walked back into the living room with a toolbox in hand. He set it down carefully on the table.

"Here, do you think you can carry this?"

Tova nodded and stood up.

"We gotta go outside first. C'mon, follow me." Argo walked ahead to the front door. Tova picked up the heavy toolbox and followed him outside. They walked all the way around to the back of the building. When Tova looked to her right, she suddenly stopped in surprise. They were standing just a few feet away from a cliff. The wooden beams against the house weren't keeping the building from collapsing. It was keeping from falling over into a seemingly bottomless pit!

Tova leaned over carefully but felt something sink in her stomach when all she saw was... nothing. It just kept going down and down...

"Tova be careful. There used to be a fence around here, but... well... I'm not entirely sure what happened, but I got home one day and... that whole side of the cliff was just gone. I'd put up another fence, but I don't have enough materials. Seriously, be careful."

"Yep! Got it!" Tova quickly walked away from the edge and followed Argo to the back of the house. She didn't want to think about the pit anymore. There was a large mechanical box that stuck out from the side of the house.

"What is this?"

"This is the generator for the house. It just needs a little tune up. You can set that down over here."

Tova set the toolbox down near her feet as Argo popped out a panel that revealed the little mechanical instruments. Nothing seemed to be moving though.

"Here, go ahead and hand me that first tool in the box."

Tova did as she was told and opened the toolbox. The first tool that she saw was almost as small as a screwdriver, but the tip of it had a strange shape. She handed it to Argo who began to poke and prod at the little gears and wires. He paused for a moment before moving off to the side and tapping at the other parts.

Every now and then, Argo would ask Tova to hand him another tool before working away at the gears again. They worked in and out of the house, fixing and repairing different appliances and machines. Tova recognized some of the pipes and wires that looked similar to the ones she had to fix at home.

She began to remember that her father would usually make her do the repairs while he watched from afar, making sure she did it right. With her tiny hands, it was easy to get into tight places. The more she did it, the better she got at fixing things. Like clockwork, if she saw something out of place, she would know how to fix it without her father's command. It was the only thing she was allowed to do around the house besides being stuck in her room all the time.

The whole day was spent doing repairs and by the time they finished, they were both exhausted. Tova walked into the kitchen and set the toolbox down on the table. Arfo walked in behind her with an assortment of lightbulbs.

"Is this the last thing?"

"Yep. These lights have been out for a long time and I never bothered to fix them. You can go ahead and sit down if you want."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I don't need any help with this. It's fine. You deserve a break." Argo smirked at her as he climbed on top of the kitchen table and started unscrewing the lightbulbs in the lamp. Tova walked into the living room and slumped on the couch. She had never worked this much in a single day before, but she felt relieved to know that everything was done. She lifted the blanket that was lying on the couch and pulled it around her shoulders. With the generator not on yet, it was pretty cold inside.

A couple squeaks from the kitchen later, Argo had finally screwed in the last lightbulb. Tova heard heavy footsteps in the kitchen as Argo climbed down from the table and stood back to observe his work.

"Alright, that should do it. You feeling okay Tova?"

"Yes, I'm alright." Tova responded.

"Tired?"

"Yeah."

"Well, I really appreciate your help, Tova. You did a pretty good job."

"Thanks. So... when are you going to take me to the safe place?"

Argo went silent for a moment.

"We'll head out first thing tomorrow. I think we've worked hard enough today, so it's best we get some rest. We've got a long journey ahead of us and we'll need all the energy we can get."

Tova could agree with that. After all the work they'd done, she wasn't sure if she had the energy to walk anymore. She leaned her head back on the couch and rested her eyes. She sighed as her mind began to wander again. She looked down again at the shoebox on the table. She wanted to look through the little book again, but still thought it wasn't the right time. Not yet, at least.

Argo disappeared only for a moment to turn on the generator and all the lights and machines in the house suddenly blinked and hummed to life. The new lightbulbs in the kitchen helped brighten the room up. A little while later, Argo passed her and set down a hot mug on the edge of the table. He was holding one for himself and sat down in his chair. Tova stared at the mug.

"What's this?"

"It's hot chocolate. Thought I'd make some for you. Y'know, as a reward for helping me." Argo smiled at her. Tova leaned over and picked up the mug. She stared at the brown liquid in distaste. It didn't look very pleasing.

"Don't tell me you've never had hot chocolate before?"

Tova glanced up at him awkwardly and shook her head.

"Well, I can't say I'm not surprised. It's really hard to get a hold of down here. Try some, it's good. It might be a little hot though, so be careful."

Tova inspected the liquid again and slowly raised the mug to her face. But as the drink touched her lips, she immediately recoiled.

"It's hot!"

"Ha! Yeah, I thought so. Just let it cool for a bit. It's still good, I promise."

Tova stuck out her burnt tongue as she set the drink back down on the table and waited for it to cool.

"Y'know, I haven't had any of this since..." Argo thought for a moment. "Hm, y'know I don't really remember the last time I had hot chocolate. Chocolate by itself is like gold around here. And cocoa isn't easy to grow down here either. You've really never even had a tiny piece of chocolate before?"

Tova shook her head.

"Is it... supposed to look that way? It's supposed to be brown?"

"Oh yeah, chocolate is always brown. Trust me, it's better than you think. You thought I gave you dirty water, didn't I?"

Tova nodded nervously.

"Yeah, I guess so. When my father made me fix the pipes, he was very particular about having clean water, so I knew how to avoid all the nasty stuff."

"Hm, that's a good skill to have. And I understand the confusion. Clean water isn't easy to get around here either." Argo pointed at her mug, "Try some now, I think it's cooled down enough."

Tova looked down and picked up the drink again. It was warm in her hands. She blew the steam away from the surface and tried to take another sip. It felt hot, but it didn't burn her this time. She closed her eyes as she drank, processing the taste. Her eyes widened and she took another long sip.

"Woah, this is really good!"

Argo laughed to himself.

"Told you you'd like it. No one can resist it."

Tova downed the hot drink in one sitting and began to feel a warm sensation in her entire body. She had never tasted anything like this before. But after a moment, she noticed something else. She set the mug down slowly and leaned back against the cushions. She was beginning to feel a little strange.

"Hey, are you feeling okay?" Argo asked. Tova looked up at the ceiling. She blinked a few times and felt as if the entire room was spinning. Her eyelids began to feel heavy and she was having trouble focusing on anything.

"I feel weird..."

Argo leaned forward, staring at her.

"You're probably just tired. Why don't you lie down for a bit and rest your eyes?"

Tova nodded slowly as she began to melt into the cushions. Her eyelids drooped shut and the world around her faded away into darkness.