HOME | DD

Description
A shaft of light spread across the red musty carpet, moths flying from the seats ten aisles up. It had occurred to Renee that no one had set foot in here in months. The slam of the door woke him with a start. Footsteps echoed through the empty halls. He looked down from the vantage point under a balcony just over the door. A girl was walking almost directly beneath him without a care. Her hushed breathing almost moved in time with her figure. She opened an old door that lead up the staircase to his balcony. "She'll never see me here. I have the upper hand here…" He reasoned with himself. For some reason these injuries and the girl's presence set off an explosion of worry. He began to panic when she ascended the staircase and landed above him. "Why am I worrying over a simple human" The word felt strange and alien sliding across his forked tongue. Apparently this was a planet called Earth, a mud ball somewhat new to the galactic alliance. That meant rangers could be here… Lightyear could be here… ranger Parsec could be here.
Renee put the rusty old toolbox her father had lent her onto the fencing rail. The necklace her father had made from the suspicious Tangean amulet was choking her. She tugged it off gratefully and sat it beside the box.
Nos was really losing it now. He tried to take off from his place below the threat and found that he was stuck. The dented metal of his base had lodged itself into the support beams. He cursed under his breath and shook himself and the balcony hard. Harder.
Renee stumbled on the shaking platform and nearly screamed. Her toolbox tumbled off and crashed to the moth eaten and incredibly hard looking carpet ten feet below. She ran to the edge to look for the cause of this quake. Her palms sweated and slipped across the wood's age- curled paint.
Nos stopped. The girl was peering over her edge. She began to rock the balcony herself violently. This dislodged him and he plummeted to the floor. With a crash he cracked his skull against the toolbox. His hand ran across the surface of something incredibly smooth. He gripped it, feeling the dimensions, and realized this was his missing eye. This must be the same girl I saw at the dump. The thought ran across the front of his motherboard fleetingly. Footsteps rumbled down the stairs behind and he bolted upright, slashing through the air with his treasure towards the rafters.
Renee picked up her tools nervously, wondering how many more dangers this theatre held. Her necklace was missing. Didn't like that thing anyway, it was ugly as crap. She thought nonchalantly. Must have rolled under a seat cushion. But she needed to find it anyway, for her dad. Running her hands along the wall, she found a light switch easily. It flickered uselessly back and forth. "I should have known the power would be off." She muttered tiredly to herself. She dug a hefty high- power flashlight out of her bag and hopped up onto the stage.
It was unusually dark in the back of the building because it had no windows. There sat a dead droid used when you were on or two actors short; and there was the generator room. She pried the door open easily and looked at what she was working with. An old, beat- up generator sat in the back beside a slightly newer one. The system was basic, probably from the earlier nineteen- nineties, but nearly fail proof. Clean punctures had cleared the aluminum casing on the first. Instead of wondering about it, she just unplugged the first and re-routed the plug to the second, easy cheesy. Lights flickered on all over the building and the backup generator whirred to life with a roar. "Now that's what I'm talkin' about!" She kicked up her heels playfully. Other than a few safety hazards, this place could be right as rain in no time!
Renee moved forward through the halls and back to the main stage. Her CD player sat waiting in her backpack, with the disc copy of Phantom of the Opera, and she did. It was time to take down the murky red velvet curtains and wash-possibly replace- them. A pile of old curtain rods lay propped against the wall. Before she could even get to the back hall her music cut off. So she dashed back to reset the tape or whatever needed to be done. The music player had too awfully familiar holes in it. She examined it, confused and then tossed the now useless thing aside. What would make curious little holes like that?
Nos was in between the two layers of curtains now. He had not been able to help himself. The girl shrugged and swung herself onto the stage again, determined to get her work done as soon as possible.
Renee decided to check the curtains next, see if the wires needed to be replaced or something. Several spare rods had toppled out of their pile onto the floor and she stepped over them precariously. Grunting, she pulled at the rusty lever to lift curtain one.
Suddenly the curtain flew up in front of him, making it all too easy for someone who came in to spot him. He let out a small whoosh of air. "Just kill her now and get it over with." He rapped quietly on his terrilium skull with the one arm for luck.
Renee heard indecisive murmurs from ahead. She stepped back, knowing she wasn't alone anymore. If she ever had been. She snatched up one of the rods "Just whack them and get it over with." She decided out loud.
He prepared to jump.
She got ready to swing.
Fingers curling around the edge of the curtain, he leaped wildly. Renee swung the pole with all her might in surprise and terror.
TWANG! It smashed into the corner of the robots head with so much force that it glanced off and left a dent in the skull and bent. Nos crumbled to the floor from midair. Renee looked at the body with wide eyes. She stumbled back in shock. Nos groaned but didn't move. His one hand twitched in the alien's direction. Renee poked at him with the curtain rod the way a small child would a large beetle. The blow would've killed a human. But this wasn't a human or even a carbon based life form at all. This was a nightmare from the dump across town. This wasn't a normal robot, though, Renee saw. First of all there were these curious scraps of cloth hanging limply from his shoulders. He looked awfully beat up, missing an arm, missing an eye, and he had pointed teeth jutting out of his mouth. Why would he need teeth? She wondered. It was a question she didn't personally want the answer to. She had had a close shave with this guy, whoever he was. I'll have to get rid of him. She thought. Can't risk any more encounters with this monster. But where? The closet. She shoved the rod under his chest and flipped him over onto his back. She grabbed his hand with some reluctance and dragged the body across the stage and into a prop closet. She locked it behind her and dashed out to the parking lot. The girl sped home.
When Renee went inside and closed the door behind her Alan was sweeping the garage. "Your home awful early, Renee." He said without looking up.
"Yeah, I ran into some trouble." She decided not to tell him about the freak robot attack.
"You sound upset. What kind of trouble?"
"Oh, nothing really. The power was out and it was awfully scary with all those props."
"Did you fix it?"
"Yes." She replied hastily.
"Oh, okay then." He sounded disappointed. And suspicious.

Description
A shaft of light spread across the red musty carpet, moths flying from the seats ten aisles up. It had occurred to Renee that no one had set foot in here in months. The slam of the door woke him with a start. Footsteps echoed through the empty halls. He looked down from the vantage point under a balcony just over the door. A girl was walking almost directly beneath him without a care. Her hushed breathing almost moved in time with her figure. She opened an old door that lead up the staircase to his balcony. "She'll never see me here. I have the upper hand here…" He reasoned with himself. For some reason these injuries and the girl's presence set off an explosion of worry. He began to panic when she ascended the staircase and landed above him. "Why am I worrying over a simple human" The word felt strange and alien sliding across his forked tongue. Apparently this was a planet called Earth, a mud ball somewhat new to the galactic alliance. That meant rangers could be here… Lightyear could be here… ranger Parsec could be here.
Renee put the rusty old toolbox her father had lent her onto the fencing rail. The necklace her father had made from the suspicious Tangean amulet was choking her. She tugged it off gratefully and sat it beside the box.
Nos was really losing it now. He tried to take off from his place below the threat and found that he was stuck. The dented metal of his base had lodged itself into the support beams. He cursed under his breath and shook himself and the balcony hard. Harder.
Renee stumbled on the shaking platform and nearly screamed. Her toolbox tumbled off and crashed to the moth eaten and incredibly hard looking carpet ten feet below. She ran to the edge to look for the cause of this quake. Her palms sweated and slipped across the wood's age- curled paint.
Nos stopped. The girl was peering over her edge. She began to rock the balcony herself violently. This dislodged him and he plummeted to the floor. With a crash he cracked his skull against the toolbox. His hand ran across the surface of something incredibly smooth. He gripped it, feeling the dimensions, and realized this was his missing eye. This must be the same girl I saw at the dump. The thought ran across the front of his motherboard fleetingly. Footsteps rumbled down the stairs behind and he bolted upright, slashing through the air with his treasure towards the rafters.
Renee picked up her tools nervously, wondering how many more dangers this theatre held. Her necklace was missing. Didn't like that thing anyway, it was ugly as crap. She thought nonchalantly. Must have rolled under a seat cushion. But she needed to find it anyway, for her dad. Running her hands along the wall, she found a light switch easily. It flickered uselessly back and forth. "I should have known the power would be off." She muttered tiredly to herself. She dug a hefty high- power flashlight out of her bag and hopped up onto the stage.
It was unusually dark in the back of the building because it had no windows. There sat a dead droid used when you were on or two actors short; and there was the generator room. She pried the door open easily and looked at what she was working with. An old, beat- up generator sat in the back beside a slightly newer one. The system was basic, probably from the earlier nineteen- nineties, but nearly fail proof. Clean punctures had cleared the aluminum casing on the first. Instead of wondering about it, she just unplugged the first and re-routed the plug to the second, easy cheesy. Lights flickered on all over the building and the backup generator whirred to life with a roar. "Now that's what I'm talkin' about!" She kicked up her heels playfully. Other than a few safety hazards, this place could be right as rain in no time!
Renee moved forward through the halls and back to the main stage. Her CD player sat waiting in her backpack, with the disc copy of Phantom of the Opera, and she did. It was time to take down the murky red velvet curtains and wash-possibly replace- them. A pile of old curtain rods lay propped against the wall. Before she could even get to the back hall her music cut off. So she dashed back to reset the tape or whatever needed to be done. The music player had too awfully familiar holes in it. She examined it, confused and then tossed the now useless thing aside. What would make curious little holes like that?
Nos was in between the two layers of curtains now. He had not been able to help himself. The girl shrugged and swung herself onto the stage again, determined to get her work done as soon as possible.
Renee decided to check the curtains next, see if the wires needed to be replaced or something. Several spare rods had toppled out of their pile onto the floor and she stepped over them precariously. Grunting, she pulled at the rusty lever to lift curtain one.
Suddenly the curtain flew up in front of him, making it all too easy for someone who came in to spot him. He let out a small whoosh of air. "Just kill her now and get it over with." He rapped quietly on his terrilium skull with the one arm for luck.
Renee heard indecisive murmurs from ahead. She stepped back, knowing she wasn't alone anymore. If she ever had been. She snatched up one of the rods "Just whack them and get it over with." She decided out loud.
He prepared to jump.
She got ready to swing.
Fingers curling around the edge of the curtain, he leaped wildly. Renee swung the pole with all her might in surprise and terror.
TWANG! It smashed into the corner of the robots head with so much force that it glanced off and left a dent in the skull and bent. Nos crumbled to the floor from midair. Renee looked at the body with wide eyes. She stumbled back in shock. Nos groaned but didn't move. His one hand twitched in the alien's direction. Renee poked at him with the curtain rod the way a small child would a large beetle. The blow would've killed a human. But this wasn't a human or even a carbon based life form at all. This was a nightmare from the dump across town. This wasn't a normal robot, though, Renee saw. First of all there were these curious scraps of cloth hanging limply from his shoulders. He looked awfully beat up, missing an arm, missing an eye, and he had pointed teeth jutting out of his mouth. Why would he need teeth? She wondered. It was a question she didn't personally want the answer to. She had had a close shave with this guy, whoever he was. I'll have to get rid of him. She thought. Can't risk any more encounters with this monster. But where? The closet. She shoved the rod under his chest and flipped him over onto his back. She grabbed his hand with some reluctance and dragged the body across the stage and into a prop closet. She locked it behind her and dashed out to the parking lot. The girl sped home.
When Renee went inside and closed the door behind her Alan was sweeping the garage. "Your home awful early, Renee." He said without looking up.
"Yeah, I ran into some trouble." She decided not to tell him about the freak robot attack.
"You sound upset. What kind of trouble?"
"Oh, nothing really. The power was out and it was awfully scary with all those props."
"Did you fix it?"
"Yes." She replied hastily.
"Oh, okay then." He sounded disappointed. And suspicious.