“You got a leak,” 2903 said, holding the can of Sunkist out to Mate.
Mate sniffled and wiped his nose off on his sleeve. “They’re looking into it,” he said and took the offered can. He didn’t open it though. He just held it in both hands while 2903 helped himself to the space next to him and cracked open his own can.
“So how’dya like Pioneer?” 2903 asked, getting right to the point.
“He’s wonderful,” Mate moped. “Perfect.”
“Yeah, he is,” 2903 grumbled with an air of good humor. Mate finally looked up from his knees, face all shiny and wet. “Annoying, ain’t it?”
“No,” Mate huffed, settling back into his hunched pout. “He’s really great. He’s kind and classy and even a little funny. He’s perfect for Pilot.”
“Caint argue with that,” 2903 said. He took a sip of his drink and waited. It took longer than he thought it would, but finally Mate started.
“I just… Pilot talks about how great he is all the time, but Pioneer’s so famous that I thought… I thought he’d be flashy and stuck up. Not to Pilot since he’s famous now too, but I thought he’d treat me like everyone treats B-units and Pilot would see he’s not as nice as he pretends to be. And that he didn’t need him now that I was back. Like, maybe I’m common and not even an entire engine, but I’m his B-unit and… well, I could be his B-unit.
“But he’s got Pioneer now and Pioneer is perfect on top of being famous too. What’s Pilot want with me when he’s got someone like that?” Mate’s lip quivered. “Not even sure why he had them rebuild me at all.”
2903 wanted to snort and chuckle at all this melodrama. He didn’t, however, because he remembered being new. Even if Mate wasn’t really new, 2903 imagined being rebuilt must be like being new in that everything feels more than it is the first time. Or how you remembered it the first time, as it were.
He figured that if Pilot could have it both ways – and 2903 didn’t really think there was any reason why he couldn’t – then he would probably love to make a little threesome out of Pioneer and Mate. He didn’t say that either, though, because he didn’t want to get Mate’s hopes up in case things didn’t happen that way. Instead, he swung broader.
“You know, the first engine to go a hundred miles an hour could have taken Pioneer for herself if she wanted him. Woulda been real easy, he wouldn’a stood a chance against her. She’s even famouser than him.” He smirked at Mate. “But she picked me instead.”
Mate stared, an incredulous look on his face.
“She was here to see you?”
2903 put on a playful scowl. “Don’t act so surprised. You were comin’ on to me as soon as met me.”
“Yeah, but I do that to everyone. You gotta cast your net wide when you’re just a booster,” Mate refuted. “But what’s an engine like her doin’ with a guy like you?”
“Hell if I know, but I ain’t about to complain.”
Mate had been expecting a clapback for the question and was surprised enough to get an agreement instead that he laughed despite himself. 2903 laughed with him because he suddenly felt so very lucky to have the life he did, where 999 came to visit him at his new museum where he was actually able to be Useful like he was doing for Mate now.
“No, but really?” Mate asked. “How’d you beat out Pioneer?”
“Heh, you takin’ notes? Formin’ a plan of action?” 2903 asked. Mate swatted on his arm and the size disparity in the gesture was comical. “I didn’t beat Pioneer. It wasn’t a competition at all. 999 just picked me. Now granted, she only had a choice of me, him, and a Nazi submarine so it wasn’t so difficult to pick but still. She coulda went with Pioneer instead.”
“Yeah, but why’d she pick you?” Mate pressed.
2903 didn’t really want to get into the specifics because it got away from his point. “Lots of little things, I guess. She and I are a lot more alike. She’s famous, but the fame ain’t that big a part of them. They still work the same as the rest of us.”
Mate harrumphed and settled back into his patch of concrete, then finally opened his can of orange soda.
“I shouldn’t have been so stupid before,” he lamented to the weeds growing through cracks in the concrete. He took a sip and realized 2903 maybe didn’t know what he was talking about. “Wouldn’t even be in this mess if I hadn’t been so stupid to think I oughta be separate of him. He always wanted me then, but I wanted to be my own unit.”
2903 didn’t know about any of that. The concept of a B-unit was still foreign to him, but he took a crack at it anyway.
“Well, look at it this way. 999 picked me because I was the best of her options in a yard with only three other guys in it,” he said. “But you’re here now and here you got a couple hundred options to choose from.” Mate’s face fell and 2903 course-corrected. “I ain’t sayin’ Pilot can’t be one of them, but you’ve been given a second chance and you’d be stupid all over again if you made the same mistake backwards.”
Mate took another drink of his soda and considered.
“You’ve got tunnel vision right now because you’re freshly rebuilt and still thinking about the past,” 2903 continued. “But you’ve got the rest of forever ahead of you. You ain’t gotta be in any kind of hurry to let things happen.”
Mate was new enough to feel like that was dismissive, but old enough to know 2903 was right.
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