John Black was sitting in lotus in a cleared-out spot on the ground, plugged into a machine, when Alex dropped by. His eyes were closed and his body was motionless.
Big Bill was playing Gradius on the gaming console. Otto and Mo were out on a mission.
“What’s he doing?” Alex asked, gesturing at John.
“That’s the Gen-4 VR rig,” Bill explained without looking. “The three of us use it for training simulations, rescue practice an’ whatnot.”
“What’s he using it for?”
“Guess you could check.” Bill motioned at the machine with an elbow.
Alex took the hint, and sauntered over to the machinery. The console showed details of the simulations John had been running for himself. “Battle practice,” they read aloud. “Sword fighting. Developing brain mappings and muscle memory…”
They scrolled through the menu of other options. “Stealth and infiltration scenarios. Grappling practice.”
Like, grappling hooks, or physical wrestling and grapples? Could be both. They resolved to check back later.
It’s evening when John came out of the program. He blinked, and glanced up at Alex. “Hey. Nice to see you again.”
Alex gawked. “Nice to see me again? I was here yesterday.”
Big Bill, making pasta for dinner, spoke up. “He’s been running simulations at 150 x.”
Alex thought back, and did math. “You were under for at least six hours… Wait, does that mean time acceleration? Then you’ve been in there for… like 37 subjective days?”
John nodded in the affirmative, and headed over to help with dinner prep.
“Alone?” Alex demanded.
“Yeah. S’fine, I’m used to it,” John shrugged.
“How long have you been doing this?!”
Big Bill chimed in. “Six days.”
“You’ve been in solitary confinement for eight freakin’ months, dude! That is not healthy!” Alex yelled.
John gave the barest of shrugs. “It’s fine. I’m better off on my own anyway.”
“No - you - are - not!” fumed Alex. “Look, as a total geek and hacker mastermind, I fuckin’ get it. Being alone is amazing. But being lonely sucks.”
“Who says I’m lonely?”
Alex made a fist, feeling the urge to punch the guy. “People who say shit like ‘I am better off alone’ are lonely. That is surrender, my dude. That is what you say to make yourself feel better about being in a shitty situation.”
Out of nowhere, John turned and exploded. “Why are you always pestering me? You get in my face all the time about what I’m doing, you dump all your weird pop culture shit on me, you think it’s okay to tinker with my shell like I’m some kinda toy - what the fuck is your problem?”
Alex didn’t know why they blurted it out, but they did. “Because I’m lonely too!”
Both of them recoiled at what had just come out. John pushed away the dinner prep he was engaged in, and walked - almost ran - for the door out.
Nearly in tears, Alex looked at Big Bill for guidance.
“Either run after the fool, or help with the dishes,” he offered with a grin.
Alex ran.
When Site 5 had been a supervillain base for Rossum, it had been chosen precisely because it was isolated. Tall trees, sloping ground, and only one small access road meant the place had no neighbors and little potential for development even if someone had cared. The base’s main entrance opened into a grassy clearing, where the Garage boys’ vehicle shells normally stayed.
Unless John had sprinted towards the city, he’d be somewhere around here. Alex found him after awhile, brooding under a tree.
“I’m sorry for messing with you,” they said. “I’m bad with people. But I still hurt you.”
“I’m bad with people too,” the android admitted. “I got a temper. Watching Otto, Bill, even Mo - all remixes of Leo somehow - I can see how much I need to grow. Sorry for barking at you.”
“Can I sit down?”
“I don’t recommend it unless you clear out the pinecones first,” John cautioned.
Alex took his advice, opened up a space with a few nudges and kicks at the detritus of nature, and plopped down.
Neither of them felt comfortable talking, at first.
John finally broke the ice. “My simulations suck. If you ever feel like helping me out, you can work on those, I guess.”
“I will write some Nintendo Hard challenges that’ll fuck you up,” Alex promised with a weak grin.
“I’ll take hourly breaks. That’s about 6 subjective days. One long work week, then an hour off.”
“Do you actually sleep in there?” Alex asked curiously.
John nodded. “Yeah. The simulation is of a cabin on a lake, with a training gym attached. There’s mountains. Birdsong. It’s pretty peaceful. There’s a bedroom and other stuff in the house. When I get tired, I go to bed. My shell’s systems trigger hunger responses, so I don’t feel hungry, but sleep is all in the brain.”
“I guess fleshlings like me aren’t equipped to visit.”
John shook his head. “Not at 150 times speed. But with some holographic shit at 1:1, you could.”
Alex laughed. “I’m a city kid, I couldn’t last 15 minutes of real time somewhere like that.”
John nodded thoughtfully. At length he changed direction.
“You sent me that anonymous email all that long time ago, didn’t you.”
“That was two weeks ago.”
John shrugged. “it’s been a long two weeks for me.”
Alex sighed and shrugged. “The email was a bad idea. I just wanted to connect with you. But you’re always so defensive around me.”
“Just…” John struggled to find words. “Just say what you want from me. Every time you talk to me, it’s like you got an agenda or you’re gonna play a trick on me.”
“I’m used to lying. My parents never listened to me. People in charge just tried to shut me down.” Alex pulled their knees up to their body and clasped them close. “Nobody wants to hear what I really want to say.”
“I do,” John said quietly. “I hate being lied to. My biological father. AEGIS. I couldn’t trust anyone, and anyone I did trust got taken away from me. Except Otto, and Pneuma.”
The mention of Pneuma’s name made Alex too uncomfortable to say what they might have otherwise, and silence came back to the forest.
The two walked back into the Garage.
Bill turned, saw them, and smiled. “Y’all ran out on pasta prep, so it’s dishes after all.”
“That’s fine,” John said. “I’ll do them. Alex volunteered to help on the simulations.”
Otto and Mo came back from their mission shortly after. “Smells good!” Otto declared.
“It’s totally fattening and will send anyone into a carb coma,” Alex replied with a grin.
Five people - four robots and one biological - scooped alfredo-laden pasta onto paper plates, grabbed utensils from the drawer, pulled drinks from the fridge, and sat down to eat together.