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Earth wasn’t too bad a place to live, Crow had to admit. Crow felt a lot happier on Earth. Well, at least he wasn’t having meltdowns or snapping at people as much, or feeling consistently angry and sad. For the first time in centuries, he was starting to feel okay most of the time.
There was something comforting to him about the constant changes in environment, the plush apartment (at least compared to the satellite) he lived in with the guys, the loud drunken fights three stories below lulling him to sleep every night. But the thing that was most comforting to him was the freedom. He could leave the apartment at any time to do whatever he wanted whenever he wanted. If he wanted to go somewhere, all he had to do was walk there or take the bus.
And by far the greatest thing about Earth (at least to Crow) was the dollar theater less than a mile away from the apartment. Every so often, Mike would take the bots to the nearly abandoned theater to watch whichever box office flop that sounded most appealing, and they’d find themselves mocking it, much like old times. Of course, they hadn’t been together in a while since Cambot had gotten banned for life. (How were they supposed to know recording the film was a crime? They were a camera!) Sometimes, however, Crow would still go on his own.
Like this Saturday morning. Crow had gotten up early. Well, relatively speaking at least. Nine was early when your roommates had a tendency to sleep until noon or later on the weekends. After pilfering from Mike’s wallet, he was on his way. Wait. No. He needed to check what the weather was going to be like today.
Fourty percent chance of rain? Crow scoffed. That basically meant it wasn’t going to rain. Crow imagined if he were the one running the weather channels it’d be all or nothing, and this wimpy stuff like fourty percent? It would mean nothing!
...
It did not mean nothing.
Crow didn’t particularly mind the rain. It was nice to listen to inside. A little drizzle didn’t bother him much, but boy, was it coming down hard today! And all of a sudden too! Crow probably wouldn't have minded as much if he wasn't worried about short circuiting.
“Forty percent my butt,” Crow muttered, sitting down a bench, barely covered by the overhang of a building.
He sat there for a while, looking down at the ground, when he started to feel foggy. Not the good kind of foggy either where you’re starting to daydream or fall asleep. No, this was the bad kind. Crow could feel a haze coming over his eyes and he felt himself getting a bit… unfocused. Actually a lot unfocused. Like he couldn’t focus if his life depended on it.
And then the ground…. Was it moving? It looked as though the sidewalk was moving up and down. Crow rubbed his eyes and held his head. He knew a little bit about Earth to know the ground usually wasn’t moving unless you could feel it, but boy did it make him dizzy.
Rain, slamming down on the street, slamming down on him just a bit. The normally calming rain just made him feel dizzier.
Was he having a stroke or something? Was he going to die? He didn’t feel like it. Surprisingly, he felt little concern at all, but yeesh he needed to get out of there.
Walking helped. Just a little. He was getting pelted by the rain, but at least he wasn’t staring at the constantly moving ground. He was looking ahead, not sure what he was looking for, but when he found it, he would know.
He found himself walking into a market. Arms crossed, he speedwalked into a bathroom. He didn’t necessarily feel sick. He didn’t feel like he was in any kind of pain. He wasn’t sure he felt anything, but he just wanted to make sure. He leaned over a toilet and…
Crap! He shouldn’t have looked down! He could see the water rising and lowering in the toilet. He leaned back in the stall covering his face. Maybe he just needed a breather, but this cramped little stall wouldn’t do.
He jumped out of the stall and hunched over the sink. In the mirror infront of him was a golden pile of junk stacked one atop the other to make some simultaneously humanoid and nonhumanoid looking thing. Wait. Was that him? It didn’t look like him. What did he look like? It was different somehow. The way he looked.
Staying still wasn’t doing him any good. Perhaps he just needed to move around. He obviously was not in any good shape to go to the dollar theater. He left the bathroom, exited the market and...
...Where was he going? He was just walking in circles. In the rain. He walked somewhere and then he decided it wasn’t the right way to go he’d just turn back. He entered several stores a few times, only to leave them after seconds, unconsciously deciding it wasn’t where he was supposed to be.
He found himself at the market again and tried his luck there. Pacing back and forth through the market, denying help from anyone who asked. What was he there for. He wondered for a moment if he was dreaming, if this was just some unpleasant restless dream where he needed something important but didn’t know what it was.
He started to notice how nice this place was. It was good and chilly, the floors didn’t move, there weren’t too many people around, he felt himself feeling, not necessarily calmer, but a bit more grounded. He didn’t quite feel like himself, but at least he could feel things, and wasn’t seeing things anymore.
The rain eventually gave and Crow wondered if he should still head to the dollar theater. He had no idea what time it was, but it felt like he was gone the whole day. Maybe he should head back home.
Crow slammed the apartment door open, only to be greeted by tired groans from Mike and Servo in the bedroom. He looked at the microwave clock. 11:30 am? Yeesh. He felt like he was gone for several hours, not just two-ish.
At least Cambot was awake, leaning back on the couch, and nodding at Crow once he come in.
Crow slammed the money he took from Mike on the counter and plopped on the couch down next to Cambot. Raising his hands above his head, Crow examined them, as if making sure they were his. They were probably his, but they were trembling just a little bit. He still felt off.
He walked into the bedroom, ripping a blanket off Mike’s bed, causing the human to roll over and groan.
“Mike, it’s almost noon. Some of us have already had our mental breakdowns today and you're running behind,” Crow said, wrapping the blanket around himself and heading back to the couch.