”“Acknowledged.”A bright flash hit the robot and the machine fell over in a tangled mass of molten Vari-plast, circuits and metal, I barley felt...the added pain of the burns.“He won’t do any reporting and you will die.” Said the voice.Someone else in the room had panic in his voice.“Admiral Swybin. We need to get him out of here. Chances are the robot already filed everything before you shot. It is certain however that the destruction of the med bot and discharge of a blaster raised alarms and. They spoke candidly of their current situations and commiserated with one another on how things had gone so wrong. Loveless marriages and empty dreams. It was as if time had stood still. Their level of comfort with one another had been as if they were only apart for a few days rather than the years that had flown past.They decided then and there to help one another in any way they could, emails, phone calls and the occasional coffee or other type of drink. For a year, they had made an attempt. The younger one was only in his forties and was so skinny that she wanted to run out and find some food for him to eat and sit there holding the spoon making sure he swallowed it all down. He had the far-away look in his eye that informed her he was not quite present in the current reality and had withdrawn somewhat into a defensive world of make-believe. His name was Randy and he admitted to a wife and two children back in Sydney who he was certain had already been advised he was dead.He. How long? How long had it been? It seemed like it had been a long time even before he'd tugged her head up by her hair so he could relieve himself into the toilet. She supposed she could be grateful he hadn't made her drink it, though he'd done nothing to prevent the hot yellow droplets from splashing up to splatter against her cheek. They'd met in the hotel coffee shop, rather than the bar. His idea. Didn't want either of them to have decision-making compromised by alcohol, he'd said. She'd.