Alex approached the abandoned mall where the Carbon Renaissance event recently took place. Only scraps of the event remained. No crowds, no one in sight. She walked around the building when she came across a section she was familiar with, the wall of payphones. Nearby the bins full of disposed electronics from the event still stood, looking emptier than they had but not cleaned out. 

She looked at the device. A large plastic handle with a metal coil wire going to the metal box with a coin slot. It seemed so ancient, like something you would only see from a film decades ago. She lifted the phone and placed it to her ear. A tone played; it was an unfamiliar sound for Alex. She reached in her purse, pulling out Blake’s number and the coin envelope. She placed several coins in, unaware of their value. The tone changed; Alex then began to dial the numbers to Blake. It rang. It rang again.

“Hello?” Blake answered.

“Hey, this is Alex.” She responded.

“Alex! What are you up to?” He said, seeming to increase in energy.

“I got out to the mall to make this call. Jess left town, and I wanted to ask more questions about the event.” Alex said.

“Wait a second. You went to the mall by yourself?” Blake asked.

“Yeah!” She replied, explaining the trials it took to get there.

“Let me get out to you. I can drive you back home. Just keep safe until I get there. It should be ten minutes.” Blake said. 

A large white minivan pulled into the parking lot. A group of people jumped out and began going toward the electronics bins. A woman in the group turned to Alex.

“Don’t touch any of it. It’s ours. You get it?” She stated with some hostility.

“Yeah, you got it.” Alex responded.

“It’s one of them bot freaks.” Another from the group pointed out.  

“Are you gonna report us?” The woman said walking toward Alex.

Alex began stepping away, she looked toward the parking lot and an old orange truck. Blake rolled down his window.

“Eh! You leave her alone, or I’ll get the scrap drones called out here.” Blake said.

Alex got into the truck and they drove away from the mall.

“You okay?” Blake asked.

“Yeah, I’m fine.” Alex said. 

“They’re just scrappers. They take away the electronics from the bot tourists that show up and sell it up to repair stores and resellers. Their bark is worse than their bite.” Blake said. 

“What are the drones?” She asked.

“They’re the police. They prevent ‘illegal waste collection.’ The sheriff drones come in and start yapping until police and recycling crews from the town arrive.” Blake responded, mocking the criminal aspect with his tone.

“Do you drive to the city in this thing?” Alex inquired.

“Not usually. There’s no parking spaces out there, and this is the family vehicle.” Blake said pulling over. “What’s your address?” 

“Wait, I don’t think I want to go back yet. I wanted to ask some things.” Alex said.

“We can talk on the way. I’m sure there’s enough time.” He responded. “But if you’d like you can come out to hangout with my family for dinner. They always love having a guest.” 

Alex thought for awhile, seeming distraught by the choice of going back home.

“Do you mind if I have dinner with your family?” Alex asked.

“Not at all! Let’s go.” Blake responded.

Blake drove through the suburbs to the place where his home was. He wasn’t as close to the city and factories, he was further away. The trailers began getting replaced by double-wides, and the yards were getting cleaner. He pulled into his driveway.

“I love the turquoise and purple.” Alex commented looking at the family home of Blake.

It was unusual in this neighborhood. The rest of the homes nearby on the street were grey or navy. 

“It’s something.” Blake responded sarcastically. 

Blake walked with Alex up to the home, holding the door open and gesturing to her to go inside. Alex had a confused expression as she walked in. Most doors in the city were no longer manually opened. She was instantly greeted by the sound of children screaming and several TVs with shows or games. A woman older than Blake came from a hallway not far from the entrance. She was wearing jean shorts and a plaid button up, long black hair in a bun that seemed slightly disheveled.

“Who’s the girl?” She asked Blake.

“Alex, this is my sister, Grace. Grace this is Alex.” Blake said with some irritation. 

“I thought you were into boys. What happened to Henry?” Grace asked.

Grace looked Alex up and down. Her expression seemed displeased.

“You brought home a bot girl? Dang, you kinky.” Grace said.

“Grace, just be nice.” Blake said.

“Fine.” Grace said, she said turning back to Alex. “Nice to meet you. You be good to my little bro, okay?” 

“I will be. Don’t worry.” Alex said.

“Mom! Blake brought home a city girl.” Grace shouted back to the hallway.

Another woman came out from the hallway. She looked like an older version of Grace, but was more polished. Her hair neater, light makeup, and clothes that matched the pastels of the city with a slightly more dramatic silhouette. 

“Blake, who is the girl?” She asked as she approached.

“Mom, this is Alex. I met her on a train and we hung out a bit at the renaissance.” Blake said.

“What a cutie!” the woman said looking at Alex.

She extended her hand out for a shake. Alex looked for a moment before realizing what to do. The last handshake she had done was for the final interview for her internship. Besides Jess, she had only irregular contact in person. 

“My name is Patty, but you can just call me mom while you’re here.” Patty said. 

“Nice to meet you.” Alex said back.

“You can take a seat over at the table. I’ll have food out in a few minutes.” Patty said pointing behind toward the dining area just beyond the entrance. 

A long wooden table with four chairs on each side stretched across the center. A smaller table at a shorter height with four chairs sat in a corner next to it. Alex took a seat at one of the chairs in the center. Patty and Blake began bringing diningware and food from the kitchen onto the large table. Grace had several kids plates in hand that she began placing the different foods on: fried chicken, macaroni, mashed potatoes, and green beans.

“Food’s ready!” Grace shouted as she began putting the plates at the small table.

Two teenage boys came from the hallway walking toward the table. They were wearing pajama bottoms and hoodies. As they passed Alex they ignored her completely, going directly to the dining table and loading their plates.

“That’s Jet and Max.” Blake said turning to them. “Hey, weirdos, why don’t you say hi to our guest? This is Alex.”

They looked up at Alex and stared a moment before nodding to acknowledge her and getting back to their food, phones in hand. The sound of social media videos and games coming from either. Patty and Grace joined everyone at the table. The kids table had small fights about superhero powers and the latest toys.

“The food is really good.” Alex exclaimed with a joyous expression as she took a bite of macaroni. “I’ve never heard of cheesy pasta before.” 

“It’s called macaroni, weirdo.” Jet said with a confused look on his face.

“Jet, you know she’s from the bot city. They got all those new, modern meals.” Grace said.

“It’s better than this junk. I can’t wait to move to the city.” Max added. 

“Just make sure to visit us, even if we aren’t one of the recommended options.” Blake joked.

Patty appeared to have a look of sadness, staring mostly down at her plate while slowly eating.

“Aw, Mom. You know you make the best food in all of Michigan. I didn’t mean it that way. Love you.” Max said to affirm her.

Patty seemed to accept the apology, going back to eating as she had when they first sat down.

“Thank you sweetie.” Patty said to Max.

Alex looked at her watch and tapped it to open notifications. Two missed messages, one from Eva and one from Jess which she immediately opened.

“Hey Alex, just wanted to check in and see how you were doing!” Jess’ message stated.