Between the Lanterns(41)
Patient Lurie smiled and replied that there was nothing new or different. It was a good feeling to be free of illness, no matter what Montek was trying to do them. August and Samantha would come out on top like always.
“Ok, good,” the doctor said, not sounding like he cared one way or the other. “Follow the nurse and he’ll tell you what to do. I’ll check in a bit later.”
Once all of the blood tests and scans were done, Patient Lurie once again sat in the exam room waiting for the doctor. Once he finally arrived, Dr. Granger didn’t even sit down.
He just poked his head in and said, “We’re pretty backed up right now, and your tests aren’t urgent. You can go home, and we’ll call you with the results in a few days if that’s ok with you. You’ll have to sign a consent form giving us permission to tell you the diagnosis over the Montek.Communication lines. Or, if you’d rather, you can come in for the news. I don’t think that will be necessary, though.”
Feeling good, Patient Lurie signed the consent form and told the doctor to call, but only on one certain number, as there was no need to worry the spouse.
Despite all that was happening with Montek, the Lurie family was feeling good. Yes, they were stealing August’s designs. Yes, they were trying to buy Woodrow. And yes, they were probably going to continue to do both of those things. But August and Samantha were determined not to let it affect them.
Funnily enough, business was still great. In fact, with Montek offering similar tech on the Net, many customers rushed to buy it from Sweets, Inc. to have it faster, and to brag that their model was cooler because it was from a smaller production line. There were fewer Sweets, Inc. versions in the world than the Montek models, which made them rare and better in the eyes of the hip and fashion-conscious citizens of the United States of Earth.
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August was tinkering with a new invention in the workshop at home when a thought suddenly sprung to his mind.
“Sam, come in here, babe,” he called out from his little room full of spare parts and odds and ends he’d packed away. “I’ve got an idea, and I wanna run it by you.”
Sam was hand -washing the dishes from supper, as she liked to do. She said it calmed her down like meditation, even though August had built her an old-style dishwasher. They both hated the SaniDish that Montek sold, which cleaned your kitchenware with ultraviolet light and high-temperature heat. It was waterless, which was technically good for the planet, but both Samantha and August felt that nothing ever got spotless without some water involved.
“Be right there, Ssweets. Just let me dry my hands,” she called back.
As she walked into the workshop, Samantha noticed August was acting a little strange. He was sitting between the lanterns, which were shining a dim and somewhat melancholy light in the small room. August seemed nervous and was tapping his foot while chewing on his fingernails. When he looked up and saw Samantha, he smiled and held out his arms for a hug.
“I think I forgot to tell you, but dinner was amazin’, honey. Just amazin’,” he said as he squeezed her tight.
Samantha loved it when August complimented her cooking. She didn’t cook as much as before when she had the restaurant, but she tried to cook at least once a day. It was still her passion, but cooking also brought up a lot of bad memories.
“You did forget to say so, but I forgive you, you handsome devil,” she replied, thumping the end of his nose.
August kissed Sam on the neck, and she squirmed a little. It tickled, but it also felt extraordinarily pleasant.
“So, I wanted to talk to you about Montek’s offer,” he said, getting serious.
Samantha pushed away from him with a shocked look and said, “Sweets, you aren’t honestly considering selling Woodrow to Montek, are you?”
August scrunched up his face in disgust and said, “Hell no! Not a chance, babe. Not a chance. No, I was thinkin’ of sellin’ them the SameSoul. You said you didn’t like it, and I know they’d pay us an incredible amount of Credit for it. We could travel. We could go and do it… live like nomads. Never stayin’ in one place for too long. Get out there and experience the world, you know? It’s all I’ve ever wanted to do, and I think this could be our ticket. What do you say?”
Samantha wasn’t sure what to think. On the one hand, she honestly didn’t like the thought of her soul… or consciousness… or whatever… being captured inside some machine, even if it was lovely old Woodrow. On the other hand, she would love to leave all of this behind and be happy with her husband; no worries about what Montek might or might not steal next. Just travel the world and be happy. Learn recipes from around the globe. It sounded like pure Heaven to her the more Sam thought about it.
“Oh, sweets,” she said, sounding unsure. “It sounds wonderful… except that you’d be helping that disgusting bunch of maggots at Montek. And to be honest, I was kind of coming around to the idea of the SameSoul.”
She wasn’t coming around, not completely anyways. But it wouldn’t hurt to let August think she was. After all, he was very proud of his invention, as he should be. Samantha kept thinking back to how they would have done it to Tara if she had activated that damned BrainSave. If it was good enough for her, it was good enough for Sam. But she also thought of being trapped forever in a tin can…or, in this case, a woodblock, and it terrified Samantha.