It's time for an after party!

[perpend]

[About an hour after the trial and subsequent execution, Cabanela makes a decision.

They need to do something, keep the morale up, however little it may be.

Under each occupied room door people will find the following note written:


In difficult times such as this, it is important to carry on.
Don't give into despair; we must preservere.
If you don't want to be alone this evening, meet me in the dining hall.
-Cabanela

[Upon entering the dinning hall, you will find Cabanela sitting at one of the tables; he has lit two candles that are placed at the center of the table, but there's nothing else to note.

You'll have to supply your own food, since he doesn't have much of an appetite.]

Comments

[forcegalactic]

Not all. She got the idea from the piano when it tried to perform. It's a blessin' and a curse, havin' installed the most up-to-date system on her.

[It left her less vulnerable to hacking, but at the same time, the whole singing mess wouldn't have started in the first place, and he would still have a saloon. Life is like that sometimes, he sighs.]

No, no problem, I like talkin'. [Understatement.] Take it as introducin' myself. I tell you about my mother, you tell me about yours, anythin' that ain't embarassin'.

[He turns off the heat and turns to Marty expectantly. Better to avoid the topic of proofreading, in case he ends up writing the sort of stories that should not be shared.]

[heymcfly]

[ This entire thing is mind-boggling. Marty can barely even wrap his head around the fact that pianos can sing or be installed with software, let alone moving into a different planet. Is he even registering any of this right? ] That's really heavy, Mord- Morda-

...Can I call you Mord, or...?

[ Oh boy. Marty breathes in and out. Embarrassment time. ] Well, ah. In 1985 my mom was kind of a...well, she drank a lot I guess. I mean, I can kinda see why if she had to put up with my dad. [ Which is mean to say, but still. ] He was kind of a wimp. Least he was the last time I saw him.

It's all kind of weird to talk about. I ran into her [ kinda ] in 1955 and she sorts got the hots for me.

[ Yeah. ]

[forcegalactic]

[That issue has never come up. Few people called him "Mordecai" at all, if they bothered remembering his full name correctly. To those who heard it once, he was "Jeremiah" or "Jiminy Barkeep", with absolutely zero appropriate nicknames. He likes his name a lot: Mor-de-cai. Final syllable with a harsh h, if you wanted to be accurate. The thought of a shortened version never dawned on him.]

Sounds an awful lot like "Morty", don't use it. Most folks call me Barkeep where I'm from, it's unofficially my nickname by now. [Marty isn't old enough to drink legally, but he can refer to the title.]

What's so bad about your dad bein' a bit of a coward? There are plenty of woman who love a sensitive man, my wife included.

[heymcfly]

Barkeep? That's pretty heavy. Mind if I use that? [ Even if Marty can't drink. Unless the drinking age went down in the nearby future? hinthinthint ]

Aaah, I don't think my dad's sensitive. He doesn't know how to stick up for himself. Like at home, the neighbors would call him the local doormat. [ He wrinkles his nose. ] About a week ago [ kinda ] my dad's boss from work wrecked his car while he was drinkin' and blamed it all on my dad. And he just took it!

So the last time I saw my dad's gotta do reports for his boss at work, pay for car insurance and repairs, and pay for Biff's dry cleanin' because when he hit the car, he spilled beer on his shirt.

He doesn't have any guts at all. It sucks.

[forcegalactic]

I don't mind at all! In fact, I'd much prefer it if folks called me that more often. [Though he kind of likes the sound of "Mr. Jiminy". It makes him sound like a teacher, or mentor.]

[He grimaces.] Your dad's got the worst kinda luck, Marty. There's lotsa bad folks out there that take advantage of people like that, ain't always their fault. Don't he got friends to stick up for him?