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The snow Tenna remembered was lit by the gentle glow of TV World’s humming current, and slipped through his fingers in a fine powder. Sometimes, it would leave the faintest scattering of particles behind; those, too, would brush off of his gloves and fade away. Such was the way of all things.
Impermanence was not an unfamiliar concept to Tenna. He’d played VHS tapes that crackled and lost their color, tinted duller than their imprint in his memory. Shows got cancelled, and never spoken of again. Actors disappeared from the spotlight. Indeed, he himself had fought against the encroach of an inevitable end…
…which he now faced, inarguably and unavoidably.
This snow was a cruel lover, a cushion that held him gently and covered him with frostbitten kisses that threatened his aging hydraulics. He had long since committed to lying immobile in its embrace. He wasn’t sure which parts of his body would work if he tried to move them; it wasn’t something he felt would be particularly helpful to ruminate on. As it was, the snowfall from above—wet, crystallic—clung to every bit of heat that escaped Tenna’s body, and melted, and ran in little droplets that sought openings in his chassis.
It was only a matter of time, a force which had wound its way through Tenna with such intimacy that it did not feel unwelcome when its grip on him tightened.
Tenna felt… not peace, but… understanding.
“…[10s]?”
Tenna couldn’t muster the strength to roll his head over, and so he spoke to the sky.
“Yes?”
“I th1nk… [It’s Free Real Estate] would b33 n0ice.”
The gray clouds above rolled past at a lazy pace. If Tenna listened closely, he could hear wood chattering against itself in an unending shudder.
“…Okay, Spammy. Let’s buy a house together. Up on a hill somewhere.”
“[no body!] to bo0ther [U.S. Virgin Islands]. A gar@ge [Four?] th3 [Brand new Cungaderos!]”
“I’ll have them put in a lift for you to work on it,” Tenna agreed. “As long as I get to ride around with you sometimes.”
“It’s a [Deal].”
The sounds of chattering were getting worse, and melting snow ran raced down Tenna’s screen, picking up his waning energy through static.
“We’ll have them put in two of everything in different sizes so you can do things around the house without needing my help.”
“[WikiHow] many b3dro0ms?”
Tenna felt an ache deeper than the cold could penetrate.
“How… many would we need?”
There was a gentle pressure on Tenna’s shoulder, reminiscient of when Mike felt Pluey and rested a paw on him.
These memories were not dulled by time, Tenna realized, and he could picture slender downy fingers on his tailcoat. He was sure the sky was watching him play old TV Time! reruns on his dimming display, just to show the world at large that the men they were still existed somewhere, somewhen.
“Thr ee, for [This Is Us] and th3 [Too] [First They’re Sour, Then They’re Sweet.]”
“You said… you didn’t want…”
“iI know [I Lied] [Vitamin B4]. You’’r3 jUst gonna [half and half] 2 forget th@t for a [Second Chances]. I [Always]… wanteD to [Gifts for Him] you a [Fun For The Whole Family!]”
The condensation was starting to drip down into Tenna’s internals, threatening shutdown at any moment.
“…Two bedrooms for two kids, huh?”
“Y 3ah.”
“Good choice. They won’t fight over space so much that way.”
“Once [Over There!] old 3nough [to be or not to be,] re$p0nsible, [Aisle 12] take th3m [you’re outta this world!] for [Feel the sweet breeze on your face as you drive down the highway…] M iight even [gimme gimme gimme] r1des to [School’s Out!]. [Shitake Mushrooms], I d be [Cool off] d@d [Around The World].”
An imagined memory of Spamton driving two… little ones… in the backseat suddenly had Tenna’s vision blurry with tears.
“If you wake them up in the mornings, I’ll have breakfast started for everybody. Pancakes for the family.”
“On [the Weeknd], I’ll [whipped cream] u p [Eggos] to g1ve y0u [Have a break.].”
“And when our kids grow up and move out, maybe we’ll have weekend pancake and egg breakfasts with them.”
“Not t0o [Rise and shine!], tho uggh. [Uno] I lik3 my [Beautyrest].”
“Of course. We’d have a schedule. No waking my dear Spammy until 10 A.M. at the earliest. And every four weeks, the house has to be cleared by noon so I can help you dye your hair in the afternoon.”
“[You know?]… I allw@ys [Savor the feeling]. You commbing the [Die] into my [hair supply], I mean, a nd [Woshua] and aLl…”
“I’ll do it for you every day, then.”
“[C’mon!]… evven [Like this?]”
“Especially like this. I’ll even find you a little pillow so you can lie down on the countertop with your head hanging over the sink, save your joints some stress.”
“Th@ t [Soundboard]… reallY n1ce.”
Tenna’s train of thought fizzled entirely of its own accord. Belatedly, he realized that something must’ve shorted. He wondered how long he could stay operational.
Next to him, the chattering was all but gone, replaced by an almost mournful, weak creaking.
“…I’ll [Seeya later!]… tom0rRow [Mourning], [10s]. [Merry and bright] [Early bird gets the worm]. W3 got a [Time for the show!] to f1lm.”
“Call time is 6 A.M. I’m going easy on you just this once!”
“Ha, you [$%&!] [Connect a controller] fr3ak… [Okie-dokie], se3ya… at [Six.]…”
The sky was fuzzy. Tenna wondered when that happened.
“…[10s], I… I love—“