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Stories from the Verse
Con Version
Chapter 129: Takano 124
Table of Contents
Previous chapter: Brown 328
The next week went fairly well for Tommy. Some of the women seemed a bit envious of her, as she had managed to get into the computer research group maybe not as an equal but as a participant--even if she did still get the coffee in the morning. Truth and Justice usually went out together in the evenings, but the most that happened was they broke up a liquor store robbery with two masked kids fleeing the scene when they happened by.
Thursday came and someone came around delivering envelopes to everyone. “What’s this?” she asked the others.
“That,” Cooper said, “will be your paycheck. Tomorrow we’ll have to skip lunch and go open accounts at a bank nearby.”
“No direct deposit?” she inquired.
“You’re about thirty years too early for that.”
Tommy raised her eyebrows. Living in the Fifties or the Sixties had its perks, but having to physically do most everything was not one of them.
“Direct deposit?” one of the men asked.
“It’s a futuristic idea by which instead of passing out paper checks the company simply tells the bank how much each employee earned, and the bank transfers the money directly from the company’s payroll account to the accounts of each employee.”
“It won’t fly,” another said. “With paper checks, as long as you haven’t cashed your check the company still has your money. Anyway, it would be a bookkeeping nightmare.”
“Indeed,” Cooper said. “But it’s one of the futuristic ideas that will need our computers to realize.
“So, why don’t we go after work today?”
“Ever hear of banker’s hours? They close at three.”
“What, they don’t work the whole day?”
“Actually, they do; but given the amount of money and the number of transactions performed between nine and three, the staff spends the next two hours making sure everything is correctly recorded and counted. That’s another thing computers will change, because once the computers are fast and accurate enough those records can be made on the fly.”
At lunchtime the next day she and Uncle Brian walked to Pierson’s Savings and Loan, which was down the road and around the corner from BBS. Others had told them of it, and it seemed like half the workers were clients of this S&L.
When someone offered to help them, Brian said, “We’re new employees at BBS, and we need to open accounts and deposit our paychecks, and get some cash for the week ahead.”
“I can help you over here,” the man said, indicating a desk along the wall. Brian presented his paycheck and his company identification card. Tommy followed his example.
They answered the obvious questions, beginning with their names. Brian apparently had a middle name, Edwin, and signed his name with a middle initial. For an address he explained that they were presently living at The Paris Motel, and were as yet uncertain about how long they would be there or where they might reside when they left.
Then came the question, “Any references?”
Tommy could see that Brian had not expected this, but he seemed to recover quickly. “Um--I guess the only person we really know in town is Mister William Keller.”
The banker suddenly froze, and slowly looked up at him. “You know Mister Keller, personally?” Cooper shrugged an affirmation. “Do you have a phone number for him?”
“I’m afraid his number is unlisted, and I would not be authorized to share it.”
Well, it was the truth; it just ignored that part that he didn’t actually have the number.
“I can contact him and ask him to call you, if you think it’s necessary.”
The banker seemed hesitant, and then said, “N-no, I’m sure if we need to confirm something with him we can find him. I believe he sits on the board of the bank.”
Of course he does, Tommy thought.
A savings account was set up, and she was given a “passbook” which she was told she had to have with her whenever she wanted to access her account. Once everything was explained to her, as Uncle Brian already knew this stuff, she left with twenty dollars in her pocket, fifteen in the bank. Only once she got outside did she realize that the bank had not been robbed while she was in there, which she supposed might be a thing for superheroines to worry about. She supposed it might be like being John McClane and having a Christmas party. You just knew some highly trained madmen with automatic weapons were going to pop up in the middle of everyone passing out presents by the tree.
They stopped at a delicatessen down the street for ham and cheese sandwiches, and then turned back, and chatting and chewing went back to BBS. On the way, she gave Uncle Brian back five dollars, which he tried to refuse, but she insisted. This left her thirteen and change in her pocket. That would have to tide her over, but with phone calls being a nickel, and a dollar and a quarter getting her a decent deli sandwich and a bottle of Coke (and a nickel back if she returned the empty bottle), she thought that she would manage.
That night Uncle Brian was staying in, and she chose to work on her climbing and jumping. She kept it simple, five feet or less to a jump, but toward the end started to add in a short jump from one building to the next, and then a roll and rise to her feet. Otherwise, she climbed and descended from buildings, which built up her arm strength, and familiarized herself with the town.
The only nighttime prowler she met was a black cat who watched her for a while before it headed off to whatever felinious endeavors it had planned. This exercise proved to her that she had finally completely recovered from the winter—which meant, she told herself with a grin as she walked back to The Paris, that now it was time to get better. Better dodges, faster spins, more intricate and unpredictable moves with the kawanaga, better flips, and quicker climbs were all on the menu. But that was for another day, she thought with a yawn as The Paris came into view.
There is a behind-the-writings look at the thoughts, influences, and ideas of this chapter, along with eleven other sequential chapters of this novel, in mark Joseph "young" web log entry #512: Versers Work. Given a moment, this link should take you directly to the section relevant to this chapter. It may contain spoilers of upcoming chapters.
As to the old stories that have long been here:
