Chapter 9 · Continued
Normal Parameters
Normal.
Completely normal.
Which somehow made it unbearable.
By late morning, Jane finally forced herself into the garage.
The long wooden RCAM shipping crate sat against the wall where she had stored it after Cam’s return. It was scraped and scarred now, with old tracking labels still clinging to the sides.
Jane stared at it for a long moment.
God, she hated that thing.
It wasn’t a companion carrier. It was a shipping container.
She tipped it carefully onto the garage hand truck and wheeled it toward the front of the house. The wooden box rattled over every seam in the concrete.
Cam appeared in the doorway and watched her.
Neither of them spoke.
Jane positioned the crate near the porch steps just as she heard it.
A diesel engine.
Big. Loud. Getting closer.
She closed her eyes briefly.
Right on time.
The transport truck rolled into the driveway a few seconds later.
The same ugly white truck. The same faded RCAM logo. The same exhaust rattle.
And unfortunately, the same driver.
The broad, sweaty man climbed down from the cab already holding a tablet. He offered no greeting and barely looked at her.
“Sign, please.”
Jane signed automatically.
The driver glanced at the screen, then set the tablet on the porch railing and jerked his head toward Cam.
“Come here.”
Jane immediately stepped forward. “Just a minute.”
The driver sighed as though she were delaying a furniture delivery.
Jane turned toward Cam.
For a moment, neither of them moved.
Then she stepped closer and gently took his hand. It felt warm from his internal systems.
“Goodbye, my friend,” she whispered.
Cam looked at her quietly. “Goodbye, Jane.”
His head tilted very slightly.
Different this time.
Subtle. Tiny.
But there.
He recognized what goodbye meant now. Perhaps not in the same way Jane did, but he understood the pattern. The finality.
Somehow, that hurt even worse.
Cam released her hand and walked toward the truck.
The driver shoved the wheeled cart beneath the crate and hauled it toward the hydraulic lift gate. Metal rattled as the platform lowered with a harsh mechanical whine.
Cam stepped onto it beside the crate without being told. The driver joined him and pressed the control. Jane watched as they rose slowly until they were level with the cargo area.
“Get in the box,” the driver said.
Like he was loading freight.
Jane flinched.
Cam simply obeyed.
By the time she reached the truck with the accessory pouch, charging cable, and manual, Cam was already lying inside the crate. His arms rested neatly at his sides, his projected face calm as he waited.