Day 32
A Stitch in Time.
Fry literally fell onto his bed. Finally, it was the end of his shift. Even after working as a new delivery boy for the last few days now, he'd still not gotten used to an actual full workday that consisted of 10 hours of work time and 14 hours of rest time. It was hard to do without getting pretty sleepy sometimes. He looked forward to some much-needed shut-eye, though he couldn't shake the feeling that he was forgetting something.
Fry: (Sleepily) Well, I'll remember later, after I get some rest.
Fry dozed off almost as soon as his head hit the pillow. Five minutes later, the alarm on his new wrist computer went off. Fry lurched up and pushed a button on it, and the alarm stopped. After another five minutes, a little piece of metal, similar in shape to a pick-ax, came out of the end of the computer, and gently tapped back and forth on his wrist, before withdrawing back into the unit. Fry mumbled and turned over, still fast asleep. Five minutes later, the little pick-ax came out again, and gently pressed Fry's wrist. ZAP! Fry woke up instantly.
Fry: (Sharply) Yeow! I hate this thing sometimes! No wonder Leela's such an early riser. She has to beat this thing to the punch.
In the bunk above him, his roommate sleepily mumbled something.
CC: (Yawning) It's time for your date, remember?
Fry sat up, only narrowly missing smacking his head.
Fry: (Excitedly) Oh crap! I forgot all about our virtual date. I'd better hurry and see if there's a terminal available. Oh man, Leela's gonna kill me.
Fry got dressed quickly, and left the room in a hurry, running down the hall and taking an elevator to the Internet Café. He'd learned that in the GBB, while you could use the Internet, the only way one could pay for it was with credits earned by doing excellent work. So far, Fry had earned just enough for three hours' use.
Fry: (To the café manager) Excuse me, sir? Are there any available terminals?
Café Manager: Sure. Go on down the hallway, turn right, and go in the room labeled terminal # 17
Fry: Thanks.
Following the directions, he ran down the hall, and sure enough, the terminal was there, and available. Fry hesitated outside the entrance for a moment, then thought back, to when CC had given him a quick guide on how to use the terminals.
(Flashback)
CC: Okay Fry, I don't guess you've used an Internet terminal like this before, have you?
Fry: (A little nervously) No, the one we had at my old job was the kind with a helmet and gloves. There wasn't a room like this at all.
CC: Okay, well here's how they work. You don't have a helmet or anything like that, it's just the room itself, and some of these 'net gloves. Now, go on and step inside, and don't worry, I've messed with these thing all the time back home. It just sounds like your old boss hasn't upgraded his equipment in a long time. All right, now, just start walking, like you normally would.
Fry hesitated for a moment, then took a few steps. To his amazement, the floor seemed to move with him, and he saw that he'd not changed his position.
CC: (Laughing) See? In the booth, you can walk around, talk to people and interact with them on the Internet, and it seems almost like the real world. All you need is to have the gloves on, so that you have a sense of touch, and you'd probably be able to live out your life online.
Fry: Cool. Do they charge you for using the terminals here? I never had to pay for it at the Professor's place.
CC: (Reading from an e-manual) From what I see here, we've gotta have a certain amount of credits saved up, and since we only just graduated, I think we'll only have a few hours that we can use for now. However, the more work we do, the more credit we get, which you can apply to anything that you want that's on the ship. So, we'd better get busy, so you can get some time saved up if you want to keep your date.
Fry: I hear that. Come on; let's go see what we can do.
(Flashback ends)
Fry hesitated for another moment, but knowing that he was keeping Leela waiting, if she hadn't already left, made him venture in and close the door. He put on the Internet gloves, and hit the enter button. The next thing he saw was the virtual world.
Fry: (Softly) Wow. I still get a kick out of this. I wish we'd had this back in the twentieth century, I could have stayed here all day. But, I've only got three hours, so I'd better hurry it up.
Fry stepped up to a virtual terminal, and spoke into it.
Fry: Planet Express web-site, please.
The next thing he knew, he was outside of a virtual reproduction of the Planet Express building, but there was no Leela to be seen. He hoped that he she hadn't gotten bored and gone home. Just then, he felt, rather than heard somebody behind him, and turned just in time to get the full impact of Leela grabbing him up in a hug.
Leela: Gotcha! I bet you thought I'd gone home, didn't you?
Fry: (Sheepishly) Yeah, I was a little worried.
Leela: (A little irritated) Oh Fry! I know that you're a lot busier than you were with us. I knew you'd come. I just decided to make you sweat a little bit. You're lucky that we're not playing laser commandos, or I'd have put you down, like that.
Leela snapped her fingers as she finished, and Fry smiled back at her.
Fry: (Happily) Oh yeah? Well, when I have some more credits built up, then you and I are going to go a round. I'll bet I could take you.
Leela walked up to Fry and put her arms around him.
Leela: (Smiling) Well, hurry up and keep on doing a good job, so we can have a chance to see each other more often, okay?
They shared a small kiss, and held each other for a moment longer. Finally, they broke apart and looked at one another again.
Fry: (A little sadly) Oh man, Leela. I really miss you. I wish that this was the real you, and not just some virtual copies of us. I keep counting the days till we can spend some time together; I mean, you know, the real us.
Leela: (Smiling) I know, Fry, but don't worry; someday soon, we'll get to spend all the time in the world with each other. In the meantime, we'll have to make do with this. So, let's spend what time together that we can, and go do something fun.
Fry: OK! Hey, how about we go to the virtual head museum? There's somebody there that I wanted to talk to since he came back to Earth.
Leela: All right then, this is your day, so we'll try to do as much as we can. Hey, we're not going to go see Lucy Liu, are we?
Fry: (Laughing) Nah, why do I need to see someone like her, when I've got the prettiest girl in the universe with me now. Come on, let's hurry up. I've only got three hours for us to be together.
They started walking, making small talk and catching up with each other, Leela noticing more than ever that Fry seemed unable to take his eyes off her.
Leela: (Thinking) Huh, I really am lucky that I met Fry. I'll be damned if I'm going to let my negativism run my life, like I used to. I deserve happiness too, and I'm not going to let go of the guy that tried to give it to me. Now, I wonder what.
Leela jerked up suddenly, and she felt rather than saw Fry stop. Looking up, she saw the virtual head museum, and wondered whom it was that Fry wanted to see here.
Fry: Come on Leela, it's free on Tuesdays, remember? That's how Bender and I were able to get in that time.
Leela smiled. Fry and Bender had tried to impersonate heads, and though she'd seen right through their scheme, she had admired them for trying something different. Then she remembered that dumb-ass cop that had made fun of her nose, and scowled for a moment.
Fry looked over, and grinned.
Fry (Trying to sound sexy) Hey Leela, it'd be nice if you'd been chasing me just for my body, huh?
Leela smiled at that. Fry always tried to make her happy, and it was sometimes impossible not to get caught up in his enthusiasm.
Leela: (Laughing softly) Come on, doofus, let's go and see whoever it is.
They walked up to the entrance, and went on inside. Fry stopped, and scrolled through a terminal until he came to a name that Leela couldn't make out clearly. She saw him hit the enter button, and then a form resolved itself in front of them.
Leela: (Her hand on her forehead) Oh, Lord no.
She said this as the virtual head, appearing on a pedestal, took on the form of William Shatner.
Fry: (Excitedly) Wow, Mr. Shatner, you can't believe how great it is to see you again, sir.
William Shatner: Hello, welcome to the head museum, where the knowledge of the ages a minute, don't I know you?
Fry: Yeah, remember me? My friends and I came to the world that Melllvar created for you and the rest of the original cast. You and my captain got into a fight, and we rescued you, and brought you and all the original episodes back to Earth.
As Fry said this, he gestured towards Leela, and she smiled nervously, the kiss (and more) that she'd shared with Shatner coming to the forefront of her memories.
For his part, Shatner smiled warmly at her.
Shatner: Oh yes, Captain Leela, you were a great opponent. I wish that I wasn't simply a head now; we seemed to have quite a connection between us, you know.
Leela: (Warily) Yes, well, it was great to have worked with you, but I'm involved with someone now.
Leela hooked her arm around Fry's as she said this, and was relieved to see that Shatner appeared to have gotten the hint.
Shatner: Oh, well that is wonderful and I must say, congratulations, Mr. Fry. She's a very lovely woman, and you should always take care of her. You know that's part of what makes being a head so difficult sometimes. I can still remember having a body, being with my wife, and going out to places with my friends, riding a horse, counting my lines.
Shatner sighed as he said this, and Fry felt sad for a moment. He'd only wanted to talk with his childhood hero some more, not make him feel bad. Suddenly, another head formed off to one side, and Fry and Leela both gasped when they saw whom it was.
Ricardo Montalban: Greetings, and welcome to the head museum. Hello, to all of the visitors that are here today, who wish to gain knowledge, and the power that comes with it.
Shatner: Ricardo, what are you doing here?
Montalban: Bill, my old friend, you know as well as I that today is my day to conduct the guided tours. Come, seekers of knowledge, let us explore those pathways, together.
Shatner: (Irritated) They came to see me, old friend.
Fry and Leela looked at each other nervously for a moment, and then Fry started to speak.
Fry: Excuse me, but maybe we should just go now and.
Fry stopped, as the two heads turned slightly towards each other.
Montalban: Why Bill, I hope that you don't think of me as taking your own glory away from you. You've always been such a valued and trusted friend.
Shatner: Yes Ricardo, of course. Well, I understand that Spy Kids 37 needs you for the grandfather role again, why don't you go on and try out for that, while I show these folks around.
Montalban: (Silkily) Oh, very well, Old. Friend. By the way, I understood that you lost your role in Miss Congeniality part 22 to Seth Green; I guess the producers decided that it was more suited to someone with younger blood. That, and he still has all of his original hair, hmm?
Shatner's eyes bulged, and Fry thought that if he could have leapt out of his jar, he would have.
Shatner: Montalban!
Fry and Leela looked around, as the scream echoed around the virtual museum, and Leela glanced back over at the two heads as they argued. Just then, she felt a light touch on her arm, and looked to see that Fry was inclining his head towards the exit. Her eye opened wide for a moment; Fry didn't want to see these two argue? But she took his hand in her own, and the pair left the museum hurriedly as the two heads continued to bicker.
Montalban: .and I also understand that they need an Esperanto teacher down at the kindergarten class. Oh yes, I forgot, it never quite caught on, did it, my old comrade in theater?
Shatner (Sputtering): Why, how, dare you, even attempt to, try and defeat, me, in a game of wits.
Fry and Leela ran down the steps, and Leela found herself laughing: whether from relief or nervousness, she wasn't sure. She turned to see Fry smiling at her.
Fry: Hey, are you okay, Leela? I wouldn't have taken us there if I'd known that those two were going to get into it. You know what, why don't we do something that you'd like to do? You always put me ahead of yourself, and I'd like to do something that you want for a change. You do deserve it, you know? Come on, I've still got another two and a half-hours to go.
Leela: (Smiling) Okay... I know. How about we go to the virtual beach? I've always liked to go look at the ocean, even if it's just a virtual one. We never got to do that when I was in the orphanarium, so it's always been a treat for me.
Fry: (Happily) Great! I can make a sandcastle, and play in the surf, and we can just hang out for a while.
Leela: Good, then that means that I can also try out my new bathing suit!
Fry: New bathing suit? Oh boy! I can't wait to see you in it. I mean, just to let you know, as long as I'm with you, whatever you wear is fine by me.
Leela: Good, because after we go to the beach, I'd like you to take me shopping. I want to buy some new clothes, to celebrate me becoming a little more spontaneous.
The couple grabbed each other's virtual hands and walked off together, and the hours passed quickly. Finally, Fry looked up and saw a terminal, with one minute left on it. He turned to look at Leela, and sighed heavily.
Fry: I'm sorry Leela, I've got to go. My time's almost up.
Leela: (A little sadly) I know, Fry. I'm glad we could spend this time together. You'll still write to me, won't you?
Fry: (Grinning) Heck yeah! And I promise, if I find a ham that nobody's accepted for delivery, then I'll send it to you for Nibbler, all right?
Leela: (Smiling again) Okay. Just, please promise me that you'll take care of yourself.
Fry: (Looks into Leela's eye) I promise.
Suddenly an alarm went off and Fry started to fade away
Fry: (Hurriedly) Leela! I love you!
Leela: I love you too, Fry. Take care!
The next thing Fry knew, he was back in the real world. He took off the gloves and opened the door with a deep sigh.
Fry: (To himself) Please, take care of yourself too, Leela.
Meanwhile, back at the Planet Express building, Leela was taking off her own equipment. Amy was sitting on a chair, against the wall, with an excited look on her face.
Amy: (Hurriedly) Well, what happened, where'd you go, what' you do, tellmetellmetellme, please?!
Leela chuckled softly, and sat down next to her.
Leela: We met outside the Planet Express web-site, and we went swimming at the beach, and did a little shopping, and just generally had a fun time together.
Amy: (Disappointedly) That's it! I thought maybe you guys would hit some of the more, ah, interesting spots, if you know what I mean.
Leela: (A little sharply) Amy! Fry and I would rather wait until we can spend our time together for real, and when it's completely genuine, not just virtual.
Amy: (Abashedly) I'm sorry, Leela. I didn't mean to be so smutty-sounding just then.
Leela put her hand on Amy's arm and looked at her gently.
Leela: (Whispering) It's okay. I know what you mean, and to tell the truth, I thought about going "someplace" with him more than once today. But, I do really want to wait for us to be with each other for real; you know what I mean?
Amy: Yeah, I know. So, where'd you go, what'd you buy?
Leela stood up and stretched for a moment, and Amy got up beside her. The two started to walk to the door together. Amy looked at Leela pleadingly, and Leela laughed out loud, feeling more relaxed than she had in the last week.
Leela: Well, let's see, first off, I picked up a new tank top, in an off white color. Then I found these really nice boots, they had this electric blue stripe that went down the side, and then.
To be continued