A Ring for Randa

The ring was perfect.

It was a 1.75 carat "Princess Cut" stone in an elegantly stylized platinum setting that encircled the diamond like a cresting wave. Colin had been stopping by the window of this jewelry shop on his way to the subway after work once or twice a week since he first spotted it two months earlier. He just liked to look at it and calculate how much longer it would be until he saved up sufficient funds to make the purchase. Barring any unforeseen expenses, it would only be another month now.

Randa was waiting for him when he walked through the front door, as always. She had Charlie Parker playing on the strereo and there was a bowl of mixed green salad with goat cheese and croutons waiting on the table. She got up from the chair and they embraced, then Colin made his was down the hallway to the bedroom to change into more comfortable attire before washing up a bit before dinner.

He was always delighted with the way that Randa was so genuinely interested in hearing the mundane details of his day, which rarely varied very much at all aside from a random event here or there. He knew her days were fairly mundane as well but he tried his best to demonstrate the same level of interest in return. She often surprised him with funny little stories about something she saw on the street or a humurous encounter at the grocery store. It wasn’t so much the stories themselves, but the way that she came to life in the telling of them. Her smile in full form was nothing short of luminous.

She served him a plate of salad and he ate slowly as he listened to her talk about a large gathering of Corgis that she played with in the park that afternoon - showing him the pictures on her phone as she narrated the tale - and he discreetly glanced at the naked ring finger on her left hand from time to time and tried to repress his secret smile.

She was going to love it.

**********

That Sunday it rained all morning but in the mid-afternoon the sun eventually overcame the clouds so Colin and Randa decided to take a walk across the park to a cafe that Colin loved on West 84th Street. They shared a delightful meal and spent much of it whispering to one another about the Hollywood A-List actor seated two tables away, who was not sufficiently incognito in a pair of stylish sunglasses and a fedora, his distinct voice and periodic histrionics giving him away immediatey to anyone in the know. Afterward, they laughed their way through half of Central Park and agreed to watch one of his films when they got back home, picking up some microwave popcorn at the corner market first.

“He was so funny. He was crazy! He was just like I kind of expected him to be but it was still so weird to see it. God, that whole conversation with the waitress about the lack of Duck á la’Orange on the specials menu was just cringy!”

They laughed some more. It was a nice evening. Colin fired up their favorite streaming service.

“Okay, so what’s it going to be? I’m sure there are at least a half dozen of his films available here. What are you in the mood for?” He navigated to the search function and pulled up a selection of films featuring the colorful character they had just dined with from two tables away.

“Oh, I don’t care. You pick. You know his movies better than I do probably. He is funny though.”

“Okay, something funny then. Sounds good.”

“It doesn’t have to be a comedy. I just think he’s funny, especially now.”

“Comedy is fine with me. How about this one?” He highlighted one of the actor’s newer releases and she nodded. The microwave beeped three times and 30 seconds later he was back with a big bowl of popcorn and seated on the couch to Randa’s left just as the initial credits gave way to the opening scene. They snacked on the popcorn and although the movie was legitimately funny, it was all the more hilarious in light of the chance encounter at the café that evening.

When the popcorn bowl was abandoned to the coffee table Colin absentmindedly took Randa’s left hand into his right and lightly stroked her index finger with his thumb. After a while he looked down at the bare ring finger on that hand and adjusted his grip a little so he could lightly stroke that finger instead. Randa smiled at him and kissed him sweetly before returning her attention to the screen.

**********

The following day during his lunch break, Colin stopped by the jewelry store and placed a down payment on the diamond ring. It was so beautiful, and he was surprised that it hadn’t already been snatched up by now. He was relieved once he placed the modest deposit and received the sheet of paper guaranteeing that the ring was his, provided that he paid off the balance within the next 60 days.

He returned to the office and went through the myriad tasks of his workday, another cog in back-office operations at Eranus, a large multinational insurance company. He liked his job well enough. The work kept him busy and the day went by quickly enough. He got along with his manager and co-workers and new employees were coming onboard all the time. Like most companies, the DARP-32 pandemic had rapidly depleted the ranks at Eranus for over three years before the vaccines were developed and delivered and now the company was once again on a course towards rapid growth. Colin was paid a decent salary and his take-home pay was sufficient to meet his needs even after the rather large deduction from every paycheck for NCAL Corp, which he never quite understood but somehow couldn't bring himself to ask about.

Things did seem different at the office now, though Colin couldn’t say exactly why or how. Maybe it was just all the new faces and organizational restructuring. Somehow, the days before the virus – and, moreover, the days before Randa entered his world – seemed clouded in his memory. It was a strange phenomenon, and he tried not to think about it often. It could be oddly disorienting when he did. There had been numerous media reports about various symptoms like this emerging as long-term side effects of the virus. Further research was needed. Colin was looking to the future anyway, not the past.

When he arrived home that night Randa had the living room sound system playing the Miles Davis record “Kind of Blue”, Colin’s favorite album of all time. She also had a covered crock of homemade pasta fagioli soup sitting on the kitchen table next to a warm loaf of French bread and a dish of herbed butter beside a chilled bottle of Chardonnay. Colin was hungry and he quickly changed out of his work clothes and washed up before joining her at the table. The food was delicious, as always. Randa’s culinary skills were bringing out gastronomic joys that Colin couldn’t remember ever feeling before. As she ladled the soup into his bowl he stared at her ring finger for a moment and thought about the big day coming up in just a few weeks. He couldn’t wait to bring home the diamond and give it to her on bended knee.

After dinner they took the rest of the bottle of wine to the coffee table in the living room and watched a movie together. Colin asked Randa what she wanted to watch but, as usual, she deferred to his judgement. He did his best to pick something he thought she would enjoy and they ended up watching a comedic action film starring a popular actress that he knew she liked. The film was good enough, if not predictable in plot points, and they had some laughs before retiring to the bedroom where they made love. Afterwards, Colin was enveloped in a warm blanket of happiness and comfort and soon he was asleep with Randa curled up and warmly entangled with him.

That night at 2:00am, Randa awoke and performed her daily waste disposal, cleaning and charging activities. This took exactly 34 minutes each night. She returned to bed as soon as she was done and was deep asleep again almost immediately.

At 3:00am, Colin awoke from sleep and performed his own set of duties as well, retaining no memory of his nocturnal activities as always.

**********

On a Thursday evening three weeks later, on payday, Colin walked into the jewelry store down the street from his office with a smile. The jeweler withdrew the ring from the locked case, placed it on the counter inside it’s ornate velvet-lined box and handed him a loop through which to view it. He had done this once before but again Colin was immediately impressed by the smooth symmetrical platinum setting and the way that it elevated and presented the stone so perfectly. It was the most precious thing he had ever beheld. Well, the second most precious thing anyway.

Colin sat down and completed the transaction, the owner of the shop telling him that he had seven days to return it undamaged for a 90% refund. (The man was Russian and did not parse his words too delicately. “Sometimes, the woman say Nyet! We understand this.”) Colin was not concerned.

When he entered the apartment that night Randa embraced him in the hallway as usual. Pearl Jam’s “Ten” was playing on the sound system, an album Colin hadn’t listened to since…when? College? He remembered mentioning memories of an old Pearl Jam concert up in Portland back in those days but they had never listened to this type of music together before.

On the table sat a small arrangement of Chinese food take-out containers and a few dishes and utensils.

“I didn’t know what to cook tonight so I got Chinese take-out from that restaurant down the block that you like. You know, that place Shun Li that we always pass by on the way to the park? Anyway, I got Mongolian Beef and Orange Chicken and some Pork Fried Rice. I know you like all that stuff so hopefully it will be great.” She kissed him and took a seat as he walked down the hall to change out of his work clothes and wash up.

He couldn’t remember ever eating at that restaurant before, or even getting take-out from there. He wondered once again if the news reports about memory loss related to the DARP-32 virus were downplaying the severity of the issue. He put it out of his mind as quickly as possible and joined Randa at the kitchen table. The food was actually delicious.

Afterwards, they sat down on the couch together to watch a movie and Colin tried to get Randa to pick a title this time, but as usual she told him that he was better at that and he should make the choice. When he pushed back a little and told her to pick something she just said, “Oh, you know better than me. Maybe a Kung Fu movie? I don’t care. You pick something. I have to go to the bathroom. I’ll be right back.”

A Kung Fu movie? That was odd. Colin didn’t know any Kung Fu movies so he just picked a popular new rom-com release he thought she would enjoy. A few minutes later she was back and they watched the movie together and it was delightful as always. But somewhere towards the end of the second act Colin started to think about the diamond ring hidden inside the sock drawer where he had stashed it when he first got home.

Tomorrow was Friday and it was exactly one year to the day from when they first met. Like so many other things, the finer details of his memories from that time were a bit blurry at the edges now. He just remembered that there was a day when she was not in his life and then the next day she was, and everything was like a dream ever since. When he arrived home tomorrow night he would bring a dozen red roses and get down on one knee to propose and hand her the ring as soon as he walked through the door. He couldn’t wait to see her face when she saw it. Afterwards he would take her out to dinner at that café across the park on West 84th Street. It was going to be just perfect; he knew it.

At 2:00am that night, Randa remained asleep.

At 3:00am, Colin awoke from sleep and performed his daily set of duties, retaining no memory of his nocturnal activities as always.

**********

The first thing Colin noticed when he awoke at 7:15am that morning was that Randa was still laying in the bed beside him. This was highly unusual. She always woke up about a half hour before him to wash up and do her hair and makeup before cooking breakfast. She was turned away from him on the mattress and he cautiously reached over and shook her shoulder lightly. Her skin was cold to the touch and she felt stiff. He quickly felt a sense of dread rising up from within.

He paused for a moment to think, then took a deep breath, rose from the bed and walked around to the other side to face her. When he saw her face he let out a gasp and fell to his knees beside her. Her eyes were wide open, lifeless and onyx black.

“No, no, no, no, No! Not today. This can’t be happening today. No, no, no….”

Colin jumped up and took a step back then clasped his hands around his temples. He spun around in place once then got down on his knees again and cradled Randa's face in his hands. The cold, stiff feel of her skin was deeply disturbing so he pulled away, but then he grabbed a pen and a piece of paper and returned to lift up the long black hair flowing down her back to record the service code that was now displayed on the red LED panel pulsing through her skin just below the hairline. With this done, he went directly to the dresser to pull his phone from the charger. He dialed the number stored in his contacts list. He had never done this before. After just one ring a bubbly female voice greeted him.

“Thank you for calling NorCal Automaton Labs, The End of the Uncanny Valley! How may I help you?”

“My name is Colin McBride and I need technical support right away. My account number is 980182-238RZT. I’m calling because Randa…my…fiancé…or, well, my partner, has suffered some kind of terminal failure. She did not awake from sleep mode this morning and now she is, just, incapacitated. Please, this is a very important day and I need her to be rebooted right away. Can you send a technician here right now? Please. This is so important.”

“I understand your concern and your urgency, Mister McBride. My name is Collete and I am an AI customer service representative. I will be happy to dispatch a repair technician to your location immediately but first I need to notify you of our pricing policies for emergency dispatch services. In order to begin, can you please provide me with the service code displayed on Randa’s primary subcutaneous LED panel located on the back of her neck just below the hairline?”

Colin read off the alpha-numeric code and listened to the simulated sound of a keyboard clicking as he awaited a response from his AI attendant. After a short while, the voice resumed on the line.

“Well, Mister McBride, I am afraid to say that this is not a minor repair issue. The code you supplied is indicative of a multi-system lockdown with all critical components disabled and potentially compromised. This is a fairly uncommon event and under our standard terms and conditions of purchase this is not covered under our basic warranty. While we will not know for sure what the final cost will be until one of our technicians can get to you and perform the full regimen of diagnostics on model Randa-621AP1, I can tell you that this sort of procedure typically ranges from 12,432 US Monetary Units to 18,763 US Monetary Units, with a mean repair price of 15,234 and a median of 15,723. Fifty percent of the mean repair cost - 7,617 US Monetary Units - will need to be paid via ETF prior to our dispatch of a technician. Are you prepared to make this payment at this time?” Collette managed to say this last sentence in a happy, bubbly and completely inappropriate tone.

Colin paused for a minute as he opened the sock drawer and took out the ring, thinking about the 7-day refund policy. The ring meant nothing at all to him in that moment. It never really did. It was always about Randa.

“I can make that ETF payment in about an hour or two. I just have to take care of something first. But please schedule a repair tech to get out here right away when I call back to confirm the funds transfer. Please! Randa is everything to me. She is the most important thing in the world. Please. Send someone as soon as possible.”

A few more simulated keyboard clicks preceded the response.

“Yes sir, Mister McBride. We have emergency response technicians in your area and they will be dispatched to your home as soon as you make the fifty percent down-payment of 7,617 US Monetary Units. Can you please just confirm your address for me?”

Colin confirmed his address and said that he would call back to complete the funds transfer soon.

“Thank you, Mister McBride. We will await your call. One last thing. It says here that you are also due for some annual mechanical diagnostic work and software updates. As always, this process will leave no long-term engrams in your memory storage unit. I will add this to the work order for the emergency response technicians to take care of while they are there today. We look forward to seeing you soon and NorCal Automaton Labs salutes you for your efforts to support the recovery of the US economy during this difficult time!”

THE END