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“Most of this can be donated to the Mental Wellness Department,” I said.
“What? Why?” Tolly asked.
“When you don’t have much, you hoard everything,” I said and pointed to a pile of boxes in a corner. “Those boxes are full of broken items I’ve been using for parts. I don’t need them now. Your ship is so new, most of that wouldn’t even be compatible. Might as well feed it into a reclamator.”
“That seems like a wise decision,” Tolly agreed.
“And all those clothes are old and can be fed into a tailor machine to be turned into something else,” I said. “The bedding is standard for the bunks on this station, but the bunks on Ever Secure are wider. So now all of it can go to the Mental Wellness Department.”
“Why would they want your discarded items?”
“Oh, they’re in charge of redistributing wealth and items to individuals and families who are struggling,” I said. “That’s how we were able to have food for the last few months. Everything I earned went to pay for our quarters, and there wasn’t anything left over for food. The Mental Wellness Department kept us from having to pick between having a home and being able to eat.”
“I’ll make a donation to them before we leave,” he said.
The door to the room opened and Lexarit was there, his arms full of travel boxes. Tolly took them, and together, we packed everything up. In the end there were only two boxes I was taking with me, mostly full of sentimental items I’d managed to hold onto despite all the moving around.
When we were done, Tolly insisted on carrying all the boxes except for the small protective case where I kept all my precious data crystals. Those data crystals held all the books, vids, and image captures I had from Old Earth and our family.
It only took him one trip to load my stuff into one of the cargo bots waiting in the hall.
It took him four trips to fill the second cargo bot with donations to the Mental Wellness Department.
By the look of the cargo bot going to Ever Secure, Cleo had been almost as brutal as I had been in taking only essentials.
There wasn’t anything in the communal area I wanted to keep, so it all went with the donation cargo bot. By the time we were all done the place was as empty as when we’d all first moved in.
Cleo was standing in the center of the communal area with a stunned look on her face. “I can’t believe this is happening.”
“I know,” I said. “It’s a lot of change.”
Cleo nodded and leaned against me. I wrapped my arms around her, and we stood in silence for a bit.
“I'm scared that we're leaving Jasper behind,” she whispered.
“Jasper will always be with us,” I said, working hard to hold back my tears. “We are Jasper, not this place.”
“I know,” she murmured. “It’s only that I lived here longer than any other place.”
“Hopefully we’ll be living on the Ever Secure for a long time,” I said.
She let out a long breath and straightened up. I let go and gave her a moment to rub her eyes before speaking.
When she was looking at me again, I pointed to the food preparation area. “I’m excited to get away from the possessed reconstitutor. I pity whoever moves in here next.”
She chucked. “You’re the only one that had issues with the reconstitutor.”
“It’s out to get me,” I said, pretending to be paranoid. “I swear, it tries to get me even when I’m not using it.”
She laughed again. “You cussed at it when we first moved it. After that it never forgave you.”
“I will speak nothing but pleasant words to Ever Secure,” I vowed.
It wasn’t that funny, but we both cracked up anyway. It was probably because neither of us wanted to cry anymore.
“Everything is finished,” Tolly said, interrupting our laughter. “Are the two of you ready to depart?”
“Sure, but we need to pick up a few things,” I said, thinking about all the items I’d shipped to Cleo from Twin Star Station. I wasn’t leaving them behind.
