WHAT LIES BEYOND
Chapter 11- Perspective
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What's in the eye? Can you tell me?
Watching the time pass me by
There's so much locked up inside
Don't go too fast, my friend,
Or you'll lose control
"What's in the Eye" by Grey Daze
Watching the time pass me by
There's so much locked up inside
Don't go too fast, my friend,
Or you'll lose control
"What's in the Eye" by Grey Daze
Day 34
Mira didn't want to get up. The pod was as comfortable in the morning as it was uncomfortable at night. So, for as long as she was able, she would rest in the comforting embrace of a soft pillow and a warm cushion. No worries about fixing wires, falling through the floor, or something falling on her head. No concerns about those other kids, or about either of her two best friends...
The room's intercom crackled on. "Adaaam! Miiiraaa! C'mon, get up!" The amplified version of Kai's already boisterous voice grated on Mira's sleepy ears. She plugged them. Kai clapped into the intercom. "Wakey wakey, eggs and bakey! No really, guys; I made eggs and french toast. It was surprisingly easy once I worked out the kinks, but... anyway, get over here! I'm not gonna eat it all by myself!" The intercom crackled back off.
Mira unplugged her ears and, with a reluctant sigh, sat up. OK... maybe she should get up. After all, even Kai was out of bed already--- and he had made breakfast! Mira couldn't let Kai eat that nice breakfast all on his lonesome. She dropped out of bed and took a peek at the other two pods. Empty. No doubt Adam was already going about his day. If only he was still in bed as Kai had assumed; Mira might actually get a chance to talk with him without being immediately blown off by his ubiquitous "I'm fine."
Mira spent some time in the bathroom readying herself, but not as much time as she used to spend. She barely touched her hair, aside from a quick run-through with a comb. Then she tied it into a loose ponytail and called it good. After all, what was the point in fixing it up? It would just fall apart by the end of the day, and it wasn't as if anyone cared.
After finishing, Mira made her way toward the hall door. She opened it and walked straight into a tall, sweaty disaster. "Aah!" She stumbled back inside, startled. Adam stepped back too, as visibly surprised as Mira.
"Oh... sorry, Mira," he apologized, holding up both hands. "I didn't mean to scare ya."
"No, it's OK!" Mira caught her breath and pushed her frizzy bangs aside. "You're good." She knew she still looked terrible, but Adam didn't look much better. In fact, he looked way worse. His hair was an uncombed mess and his face was shiny with sweat. His shirt was soaked as well, and there were even darker circles beneath his eyes now than there were yesterday. Mira drew back. "Where have you been? You look awful."
Adam tugged the sweaty collar of his shirt. "I was workin' out," he said. "I was just gonna shower off and change clothes before getting to work." He stepped inside with a sigh. "So. What were you up to? Did you sleep well?" He hurried to the closet, Mira close behind him.
"Yeah. And... nothing yet," she said. "But Kai's made us breakfast. Eggs and french toast." She smiled teasingly at him. "Wanna come with?"
Adam shook his head. "No thanks." He opened the closet.
Mira's eyebrows rose. Did she hear him right? "You sure? I bet it'd taste great after that workout."
"I'm sure," Adam clipped. He tossed a clean shirt and pair of pants over his arm. Then he bent down to rifle through the underclothes. "I ate before I hit the stairs."
"OK." Mira let out a disappointed sigh. "It's just that... I was looking forward to sitting down and eating with you this morning. We don't do it that often anymore. And Kai probably worked really hard to make us that breakfast."
"I'm sure he did. But it does him no good if I'm not hungry enough to enjoy it." Adam stood and smiled at Mira. "Don't worry; I'll catch you guys at lunch." He headed for the bathroom.
Mira blinked. "OK." She turned and walked toward the door. After a moment of consideration, she peeked back with a smile. "See you then." But he'd already disappeared into the bathroom. Mira sighed sadly and shut the door behind her.
Kai had set up three plates on the table, along with a set of three apples. He stood in the doorway between the cooking and storage sides of the kitchen, keeping an eye on both the food and the entrance. His face brightened the moment Mira stepped through the door. He ambled over to meet her. "Mira! Finally. Any longer and the food would've goopified and I'd have to start all over again!" As scolding as his words seemed, there was a happy grin on his face.
Mira smiled back and gave his shoulder a friendly punch. "I didn't take that long."
Kai rubbed his shoulder. He stared into her eyes with that same lopsided smile frozen onto his face, as if he couldn't quite think of what to do next. "Oh!" he interjected at last. The redhead pulled the closest chair out and offered it to his friend. "Here, have a seat! I'll go get the food." Mira sat down. Kai backed away toward the divider door, still facing Mira. "You know... now that it's not gonna get cold." He tripped on another chair, stumbled, yelped, and caught himself at the last second. Then he grinned at Mira as if nothing had ever happened and slipped into the back room.
Mira chuckled to herself and picked an apple from the center. As sad as Adam made her feel lately, she could always count on Kai to brighten her mood--- even if it wasn't through the means he'd intended. His attempts at chivalry were sweet, but nothing could make Mira laugh quite like Kai tripping on something or bungling up his vocabulary. She felt bad for finding it funny on one hand, but on the other, she found it had its own kind of charm. She wouldn't have her friend any other way.
A minute later, Kai came back in with two serving bowls: one full of french toast strips and one full of scrambled eggs. He set them in the center and sat down at his usual place.
"So, what's the occasion?" she asked once they had served themselves.
Kai raised an eyebrow. "Um, breakfast." He dug into his eggs.
Mira toyed with one strip of toast, silently judging its not-quite-right texture. "Obviously," she said. "But you usually don't cook at breakfast. We tend to eat and run."
"I'm taking the day off," Kai announced with a twirl of his fork, "to celebrate my victory. We've still got a ways to go, but... yeah. And I was wondering the other day if I could get the food generator to make eggs. Today seemed as good a time as any to try."
Mira took a big bite of the scrambled eggs--- not bad, she decided with a nod. "I guess you succeeded, huh? These taste like the real deal."
"Well... technically they're not eggs, and I never generated an actual raw egg, but I got it to a texture that cooked like an egg, and added in an egg flavorant to make it taste like an egg."
"Wow! Sounds... needlessly complicated." She ate another forkful.
"But the results speak for themselves!" He finished off his eggs and smiled. "So what do you think?"
Mira shrugged. "Pretty good. You're getting way better at cooking with this stuff." She shot him an encouraging smile.
"Heh... thanks." Kai dug one hand through his messy hair. "I'm gonna try an omelet next time." He picked up a piece of french toast, sniffed it, and bent it. Instead of breaking open like bread should, the toast strip flexed much like a piece of rubber. "And try to improve on the toast. It's still kinda weird." He chomped a big bite of it anyway.
"Yeah," Mira agreed. She poked one strip with her fork. "It looks... chewy."
Kai nodded. "It is. Well, it might not be good french toast, but it could be good taffy if I tweaked it a little more." He finished off the slice.
Mira didn't want to chance the weird so-called "toast". She finished off the eggs and pushed the plate aside. She wasn't hungry anymore; that interaction with Adam this morning had already stifled her appetite, and strangely-textured food sure wasn't going to bring it back.
Kai continued to eat his own toast, unfazed. "Hey; where's Adam?" he asked. "I thought for sure he'd want a home-cooked breakfast for once."
Think of the devil. "He's not coming," sighed Mira. "I ran into him before I came. He said he'd already eaten."
Kai's brow furrowed. "He did?" He chewed, the gears turning in his head. "Well, I've been in here all morning. I sure hadn't seen him." He shrugged. "Maybe he slipped by without me noticing. You know how I am when I'm in the zone." He finished off his plate.
"Yeah... Maybe." Mira wasn't so sure she was ready to believe that. Adam couldn't have gotten anything more than a quick bite if he'd been in and out fast enough for Kai to miss him altogether. And if he'd been jogging up and down the stairs to work up that much of a sweat, there was no way a single apple or banana would still be holding him over. Then again, his appetite seemed to have escaped him for the past couple of days. It wouldn't surprise Mira if he hadn't eaten at all and had merely fabricated his report of a pre-workout meal.
"Well, his loss. More for us!" Kai dumped the rest of the eggs onto his plate, easily thrice the amount of his initial serving. "Well... more for me, that is." He chowed right down.
Mira smiled wryly. At least one of them was hungry.
It was quiet for a few seconds. Then Kai's eyes flashed with realization. "Mira," he said severely, "Don't tell me you're upset over him again!"
"Of course I am," sighed Mira. She sank down into her folded arms.
Kai set his fork down. "Why? What'd he do?" All morning, Kai had been outstandingly cheerful. Now he became serious, brow furrowed and head tilted in concern.
"Nothing horrible, really," Mira admitted. "Call me crazy if you want. But he's just been so elusive lately, ever since those other kids showed up. Even when I'm with him, he's not all there." She traced her finger in slow circles over the island. "This thing with us... maybe being completely wrong about everything we ever knew has only made it worse. I want to talk it through with him but he's not there." She sighed. "I just want my friend back."
Kai was silent. Then he shrugged. "Guess I hadn't noticed. All I can tell any different is he's been extra grouchy these past few days." He chortled and resumed eating. "I think he just has a really big stick up his butt."
Mira narrowed her eyes. "He's definitely grouchy," she agreed. "But it's more than that, Kai. He doesn't want to talk with me anymore. Every time we get started he leaves, or he changes the subject, or he'll just snap at me for no reason." She shook her head, claws of emotion tearing at her stomach. "We're supposed to be best friends, right? And... I just don't know how much more of this I can take."
"Well... take it from your other best friend," Kai began with a smile. "He's not gonna avoid you forever. Like you said, you're best friends." He lifted a forkful of eggs. "You know how Adam is. He'll be fine in a few days. Those guys showed up and threw him way off, but he'll loosen up. Once he gets used to them being around, he'll be back to normal." He ate the eggs, still with an encouraging smile on his face. "Promise."
For once, Kai made sense. Mira sat up straight once more, taking a deep breath. She exhaled. "OK." It wasn't that big of a deal. End of the week, Adam would be good again. After all, she was one of the only friends--- one of the only people, for that matter--- Adam had right now. He couldn't avoid her forever, as easy as it was to avoid people in this place.
The two sat in silence for a little while. Then Kai shifted in his seat, brow furrowed. "So... Mira."
"Hmm?"
"Have you had... I dunno, any weird dreams, or... nightmares lately?"
Odd question. Mira shook her head. "I don't think so. I haven't dreamed much at all lately, come to think of it." She quirked one eyebrow. "Why do you ask?"
"Uh... y'know." Kai barked a squeaky laugh. "Just curious." He cleared his throat and cleaned off his plate a second time, watching Mira with disquieted eyes. "Good eggs. Uh... talk." He grinned.
Nervous. He was nervous. Why is he so nervous all of a sudden? Mira wondered.
Kai's social radar picked up on her suspicion. His eyes flitted all over the room, searching for a swift change of topic. Finally, his gaze settled on Mira's uneaten french toast. Kai looked back up at Mira, the nervousness now gone and replaced with an inquisitive smile. "Are you gonna eat that?"
Mira shook off the random mood-switch, unable to help but smile in sight of that dopey grin. She sighed and nudged her plate toward him. "You're a bottomless pit."
Sparks flashed out the corner of Adam's eye. Adam turned and took a good, long look at his shadow, waved to check that it moved with him, then pinched himself to make sure he was patrolling the hall for real this time. There are no shadow people running around, he reminded himself. The only other people here are Kai, Mira, and those other kids.
Those other kids. What were they up to? Adam had spent the night awake, thinking that very thought. He couldn't get it out of his head. Every time he closed his eyes, all he could think about was Vanessa and her crew taking a way out--- a shuttle. An escape pod. Some sort of instant teleporter. He didn't know what they could find. Sure, it sounded paranoid. It probably was paranoid. But Adam couldn't let himself trust them. Not for one minute.
They wouldn't get us out of here for any price, Adam's mind hissed. We can't trust them. Vanessa will betray us. Reeve will stab us in the back. Skeet would just let it all happen. "If you want something done right..." he murmured to himself. But a distant sound cut him off mid-sentence.
Voices.
Adam focused on that sound--- the sound of talking. A male voice too deep to possibly belong to Kai--- Reeve. And there was Vanessa's voice. Along with it, a metallic scraping sound along the carpet, occasionally plinking against the wall. He shook his head to make sure he wasn't imagining it. But the voices, and the metal noise, continued. Even worse, they were coming closer.
Anger. What are they doing here?
Adam swallowed down the churning in his stomach and marched toward their voices. This... was... his team's floor. What did they want? What right did they have to ask him for anything else? He'd never mentioned his team lived here; how could they know to come here for help? What else did they know?
Perhaps his suspicions were more than mere paranoia. Perhaps he was justified in these thoughts. Adam's temper flared hotter the moment his eyes fell upon the three intruders, but he forced himself to remain calm as he approached. Stay professional. No need to lose his cool.
Yet.
Vanessa met him with a cool nod and cold eyes. Reeve acknowledged Adam, but did little else. Skeet was the source of the metallic noise--- he was operating a bent metal pole as a guiding staff. He still seemed unconfident, but the pole had put a little more spring in his step. Vanessa stopped. Reeve did the same, and grabbed Skeet's arm to halt him.
Adam didn't give Vanessa a chance to open her mouth. "What are you doing here?" he asked. He stopped right in front of her.
"Adam! Hey," said Skeet.
"Quiet!" Vanessa snapped. Skeet deflated. The girl stared up at Adam with a smart smile. "We're stuck here too, in case you've forgotten."
As if I could. "Yeah, but not on this floor." Adam saw a flash out the corner of his eye. He squeezed his eyes shut and forced it away. "This is my team's floor. You don't belong here."
Vanessa and Reeve exchanged concerned glances. "Dude. You look terrible," Reeve remarked.
"How terrible?" Skeet asked Reeve.
"Like somethin' the cat dragged in," Reeve muttered to his pal. "Messy hair, bloodshot eyes. The whole nine yards."
As if you're in any way concerned about how I look, Adam fumed. He struggled to keep his tone calm. "I didn't get much sleep last night. Just tell me what you're doing up here."
"We were exploring," Vanessa said. "It sure is a lot nicer up here."
Adam narrowed his eyes. "I told you already. This floor belongs to us. Everything above your floor is ours. I don't want to catch you guys up here again."
"You guys are in every place below our floor all the time," Reeve pointed out. "Are you just gonna claim this whole place for yourselves?"
A fair point, Adam had to admit. "We're down there for repair reasons," said Adam. What could he say to keep them away? He looked back and forth between Vanessa and Reeve. "Listen. If I ask Kai to show you guys how to restore power to those floors, we'll stay off the lower levels. You can have 'em. But this place needs to be in working order if any of us hope to get home."
Vanessa considered the proposal, then nodded. "Deal. You stay off our floors, we'll stay off yours." She extended her hand to shake.
Adam accepted the handshake. "Agreed." He hated to concede in this way--- too much could go wrong. But for his own team's sake, this would have to be their best move.
They'd thank him later.
"You did what?"
Adam lay back in bed, arms folded behind his head. "You heard me, Kai," he said. "I didn't want to, but I couldn't risk it. I don't want them coming anywhere near that control room."
"Why not?" asked Kai. He paced around the room, frustrated energy pulsing from him. "I keep a good eye on that place. And now you're gonna have me away from my job, down on the creepy floors with them? Seriously?"
"Only for a little while," Adam reassured his friend. "Just show them how and offer assistance if they need it later. I need to keep them occupied."
"So they, what, won't be looking for a way out?" Kai scoffed. "Can you blame them? That's exactly what we've been doing this whole time. Seems honest enough to me."
"I'm not gonna complain about leaving those lower floors alone," said Mira. "But Kai's right. Sorry, but... I'm not following your logic here."
"My logic is fine," Adam grunted. "I've explained it already. If they find a way out before we do, they'll take it and get out of here before we ever have a chance. I'm not gonna let that happen."
"Um, hello?" Kai paused his pacing to glare at Adam. He marched toward his friend, a fire in his eyes. "We can't prove they're gonna do that. We don't even know if there is a way out down there. And really, we have the best chance of finding a way out because I'm the only guy who knows his way around the controls!" He scoffed, stopped right beside Adam's pod. "Last I checked, Vanessa wasn't a computer whiz." Adam glared back up at him, unfazed. Kai shrugged. "I'm just saying."
"We don't know what Vanessa is capable of," Adam reminded Kai, his voice low. "We never met her outside the game, remember? We don't know anything about her."
"Yeah, we don't," said Kai. "I don't trust her for a single second, believe me. But what harm could it do for her to poke around and see our boring wasteland? We could give her an all-expenses-paid tour, for all I care."
"That's the problem with you, Kai," Adam murmured, closing his eyes. "You don't see the harm in anything. Even when it's obvious."
"Yeah, well..." Adam re-opened his eyes. Kai stood stiffly, fists bunched. "You see the harm in everything. Even if it isn't there!"
"I'm just cautious. That's all."
"Point is, there's nothing up here. We've checked. Telling them they can't come up here isn't just unnecessary, it's stupid."
Adam's temper flared. He sat up, glaring hard at Kai. "Do you have a better idea?" he snapped.
Kai backed off, startled. "Well... no, but..."
Adam sighed, pinching his temple. "Thought so," he muttered. He sank back down onto the pillow.
But Kai persisted. "Look! I'm saying we don't need an idea at all. They won't make any more headway than we have, and now, thanks to YOU, we just lost access to half the AARC!" His eyes shimmered with anger.
"Drop it, Kai," Adam ordered sharply. "It's over with. Stop arguing about it."
Kai scoffed. He stormed over to the other side of the room, muttering under his breath. His voice was low, but loud enough for Adam to understand. "Sure. Stop arguing about it. Ha! You're just sayin' that cause you know I'm right."
Adam choked down the sudden, horrifying desire to leap out of bed, tackle Kai to the ground and fist him right in the jaw. Violence would cause nothing but harm and deep regret, but when he was tired out of his mind like this, it became much easier to consider the inconsiderable. It helped to close his eyes, bite his tongue, and wait for the surge of rage to pass. In short order, it did.
Adam sighed and rolled over onto his side. He'll see, a voice reassured him. He'll understand why I did what I did. He'll realize it was all for the best and then he'll have nothing to complain about.
The room's intercom crackled on. "Adaaam! Miiiraaa! C'mon, get up!" The amplified version of Kai's already boisterous voice grated on Mira's sleepy ears. She plugged them. Kai clapped into the intercom. "Wakey wakey, eggs and bakey! No really, guys; I made eggs and french toast. It was surprisingly easy once I worked out the kinks, but... anyway, get over here! I'm not gonna eat it all by myself!" The intercom crackled back off.
Mira unplugged her ears and, with a reluctant sigh, sat up. OK... maybe she should get up. After all, even Kai was out of bed already--- and he had made breakfast! Mira couldn't let Kai eat that nice breakfast all on his lonesome. She dropped out of bed and took a peek at the other two pods. Empty. No doubt Adam was already going about his day. If only he was still in bed as Kai had assumed; Mira might actually get a chance to talk with him without being immediately blown off by his ubiquitous "I'm fine."
Mira spent some time in the bathroom readying herself, but not as much time as she used to spend. She barely touched her hair, aside from a quick run-through with a comb. Then she tied it into a loose ponytail and called it good. After all, what was the point in fixing it up? It would just fall apart by the end of the day, and it wasn't as if anyone cared.
After finishing, Mira made her way toward the hall door. She opened it and walked straight into a tall, sweaty disaster. "Aah!" She stumbled back inside, startled. Adam stepped back too, as visibly surprised as Mira.
"Oh... sorry, Mira," he apologized, holding up both hands. "I didn't mean to scare ya."
"No, it's OK!" Mira caught her breath and pushed her frizzy bangs aside. "You're good." She knew she still looked terrible, but Adam didn't look much better. In fact, he looked way worse. His hair was an uncombed mess and his face was shiny with sweat. His shirt was soaked as well, and there were even darker circles beneath his eyes now than there were yesterday. Mira drew back. "Where have you been? You look awful."
Adam tugged the sweaty collar of his shirt. "I was workin' out," he said. "I was just gonna shower off and change clothes before getting to work." He stepped inside with a sigh. "So. What were you up to? Did you sleep well?" He hurried to the closet, Mira close behind him.
"Yeah. And... nothing yet," she said. "But Kai's made us breakfast. Eggs and french toast." She smiled teasingly at him. "Wanna come with?"
Adam shook his head. "No thanks." He opened the closet.
Mira's eyebrows rose. Did she hear him right? "You sure? I bet it'd taste great after that workout."
"I'm sure," Adam clipped. He tossed a clean shirt and pair of pants over his arm. Then he bent down to rifle through the underclothes. "I ate before I hit the stairs."
"OK." Mira let out a disappointed sigh. "It's just that... I was looking forward to sitting down and eating with you this morning. We don't do it that often anymore. And Kai probably worked really hard to make us that breakfast."
"I'm sure he did. But it does him no good if I'm not hungry enough to enjoy it." Adam stood and smiled at Mira. "Don't worry; I'll catch you guys at lunch." He headed for the bathroom.
Mira blinked. "OK." She turned and walked toward the door. After a moment of consideration, she peeked back with a smile. "See you then." But he'd already disappeared into the bathroom. Mira sighed sadly and shut the door behind her.
Kai had set up three plates on the table, along with a set of three apples. He stood in the doorway between the cooking and storage sides of the kitchen, keeping an eye on both the food and the entrance. His face brightened the moment Mira stepped through the door. He ambled over to meet her. "Mira! Finally. Any longer and the food would've goopified and I'd have to start all over again!" As scolding as his words seemed, there was a happy grin on his face.
Mira smiled back and gave his shoulder a friendly punch. "I didn't take that long."
Kai rubbed his shoulder. He stared into her eyes with that same lopsided smile frozen onto his face, as if he couldn't quite think of what to do next. "Oh!" he interjected at last. The redhead pulled the closest chair out and offered it to his friend. "Here, have a seat! I'll go get the food." Mira sat down. Kai backed away toward the divider door, still facing Mira. "You know... now that it's not gonna get cold." He tripped on another chair, stumbled, yelped, and caught himself at the last second. Then he grinned at Mira as if nothing had ever happened and slipped into the back room.
Mira chuckled to herself and picked an apple from the center. As sad as Adam made her feel lately, she could always count on Kai to brighten her mood--- even if it wasn't through the means he'd intended. His attempts at chivalry were sweet, but nothing could make Mira laugh quite like Kai tripping on something or bungling up his vocabulary. She felt bad for finding it funny on one hand, but on the other, she found it had its own kind of charm. She wouldn't have her friend any other way.
A minute later, Kai came back in with two serving bowls: one full of french toast strips and one full of scrambled eggs. He set them in the center and sat down at his usual place.
"So, what's the occasion?" she asked once they had served themselves.
Kai raised an eyebrow. "Um, breakfast." He dug into his eggs.
Mira toyed with one strip of toast, silently judging its not-quite-right texture. "Obviously," she said. "But you usually don't cook at breakfast. We tend to eat and run."
"I'm taking the day off," Kai announced with a twirl of his fork, "to celebrate my victory. We've still got a ways to go, but... yeah. And I was wondering the other day if I could get the food generator to make eggs. Today seemed as good a time as any to try."
Mira took a big bite of the scrambled eggs--- not bad, she decided with a nod. "I guess you succeeded, huh? These taste like the real deal."
"Well... technically they're not eggs, and I never generated an actual raw egg, but I got it to a texture that cooked like an egg, and added in an egg flavorant to make it taste like an egg."
"Wow! Sounds... needlessly complicated." She ate another forkful.
"But the results speak for themselves!" He finished off his eggs and smiled. "So what do you think?"
Mira shrugged. "Pretty good. You're getting way better at cooking with this stuff." She shot him an encouraging smile.
"Heh... thanks." Kai dug one hand through his messy hair. "I'm gonna try an omelet next time." He picked up a piece of french toast, sniffed it, and bent it. Instead of breaking open like bread should, the toast strip flexed much like a piece of rubber. "And try to improve on the toast. It's still kinda weird." He chomped a big bite of it anyway.
"Yeah," Mira agreed. She poked one strip with her fork. "It looks... chewy."
Kai nodded. "It is. Well, it might not be good french toast, but it could be good taffy if I tweaked it a little more." He finished off the slice.
Mira didn't want to chance the weird so-called "toast". She finished off the eggs and pushed the plate aside. She wasn't hungry anymore; that interaction with Adam this morning had already stifled her appetite, and strangely-textured food sure wasn't going to bring it back.
Kai continued to eat his own toast, unfazed. "Hey; where's Adam?" he asked. "I thought for sure he'd want a home-cooked breakfast for once."
Think of the devil. "He's not coming," sighed Mira. "I ran into him before I came. He said he'd already eaten."
Kai's brow furrowed. "He did?" He chewed, the gears turning in his head. "Well, I've been in here all morning. I sure hadn't seen him." He shrugged. "Maybe he slipped by without me noticing. You know how I am when I'm in the zone." He finished off his plate.
"Yeah... Maybe." Mira wasn't so sure she was ready to believe that. Adam couldn't have gotten anything more than a quick bite if he'd been in and out fast enough for Kai to miss him altogether. And if he'd been jogging up and down the stairs to work up that much of a sweat, there was no way a single apple or banana would still be holding him over. Then again, his appetite seemed to have escaped him for the past couple of days. It wouldn't surprise Mira if he hadn't eaten at all and had merely fabricated his report of a pre-workout meal.
"Well, his loss. More for us!" Kai dumped the rest of the eggs onto his plate, easily thrice the amount of his initial serving. "Well... more for me, that is." He chowed right down.
Mira smiled wryly. At least one of them was hungry.
It was quiet for a few seconds. Then Kai's eyes flashed with realization. "Mira," he said severely, "Don't tell me you're upset over him again!"
"Of course I am," sighed Mira. She sank down into her folded arms.
Kai set his fork down. "Why? What'd he do?" All morning, Kai had been outstandingly cheerful. Now he became serious, brow furrowed and head tilted in concern.
"Nothing horrible, really," Mira admitted. "Call me crazy if you want. But he's just been so elusive lately, ever since those other kids showed up. Even when I'm with him, he's not all there." She traced her finger in slow circles over the island. "This thing with us... maybe being completely wrong about everything we ever knew has only made it worse. I want to talk it through with him but he's not there." She sighed. "I just want my friend back."
Kai was silent. Then he shrugged. "Guess I hadn't noticed. All I can tell any different is he's been extra grouchy these past few days." He chortled and resumed eating. "I think he just has a really big stick up his butt."
Mira narrowed her eyes. "He's definitely grouchy," she agreed. "But it's more than that, Kai. He doesn't want to talk with me anymore. Every time we get started he leaves, or he changes the subject, or he'll just snap at me for no reason." She shook her head, claws of emotion tearing at her stomach. "We're supposed to be best friends, right? And... I just don't know how much more of this I can take."
"Well... take it from your other best friend," Kai began with a smile. "He's not gonna avoid you forever. Like you said, you're best friends." He lifted a forkful of eggs. "You know how Adam is. He'll be fine in a few days. Those guys showed up and threw him way off, but he'll loosen up. Once he gets used to them being around, he'll be back to normal." He ate the eggs, still with an encouraging smile on his face. "Promise."
For once, Kai made sense. Mira sat up straight once more, taking a deep breath. She exhaled. "OK." It wasn't that big of a deal. End of the week, Adam would be good again. After all, she was one of the only friends--- one of the only people, for that matter--- Adam had right now. He couldn't avoid her forever, as easy as it was to avoid people in this place.
The two sat in silence for a little while. Then Kai shifted in his seat, brow furrowed. "So... Mira."
"Hmm?"
"Have you had... I dunno, any weird dreams, or... nightmares lately?"
Odd question. Mira shook her head. "I don't think so. I haven't dreamed much at all lately, come to think of it." She quirked one eyebrow. "Why do you ask?"
"Uh... y'know." Kai barked a squeaky laugh. "Just curious." He cleared his throat and cleaned off his plate a second time, watching Mira with disquieted eyes. "Good eggs. Uh... talk." He grinned.
Nervous. He was nervous. Why is he so nervous all of a sudden? Mira wondered.
Kai's social radar picked up on her suspicion. His eyes flitted all over the room, searching for a swift change of topic. Finally, his gaze settled on Mira's uneaten french toast. Kai looked back up at Mira, the nervousness now gone and replaced with an inquisitive smile. "Are you gonna eat that?"
Mira shook off the random mood-switch, unable to help but smile in sight of that dopey grin. She sighed and nudged her plate toward him. "You're a bottomless pit."
Sparks flashed out the corner of Adam's eye. Adam turned and took a good, long look at his shadow, waved to check that it moved with him, then pinched himself to make sure he was patrolling the hall for real this time. There are no shadow people running around, he reminded himself. The only other people here are Kai, Mira, and those other kids.
Those other kids. What were they up to? Adam had spent the night awake, thinking that very thought. He couldn't get it out of his head. Every time he closed his eyes, all he could think about was Vanessa and her crew taking a way out--- a shuttle. An escape pod. Some sort of instant teleporter. He didn't know what they could find. Sure, it sounded paranoid. It probably was paranoid. But Adam couldn't let himself trust them. Not for one minute.
They wouldn't get us out of here for any price, Adam's mind hissed. We can't trust them. Vanessa will betray us. Reeve will stab us in the back. Skeet would just let it all happen. "If you want something done right..." he murmured to himself. But a distant sound cut him off mid-sentence.
Voices.
Adam focused on that sound--- the sound of talking. A male voice too deep to possibly belong to Kai--- Reeve. And there was Vanessa's voice. Along with it, a metallic scraping sound along the carpet, occasionally plinking against the wall. He shook his head to make sure he wasn't imagining it. But the voices, and the metal noise, continued. Even worse, they were coming closer.
Anger. What are they doing here?
Adam swallowed down the churning in his stomach and marched toward their voices. This... was... his team's floor. What did they want? What right did they have to ask him for anything else? He'd never mentioned his team lived here; how could they know to come here for help? What else did they know?
Perhaps his suspicions were more than mere paranoia. Perhaps he was justified in these thoughts. Adam's temper flared hotter the moment his eyes fell upon the three intruders, but he forced himself to remain calm as he approached. Stay professional. No need to lose his cool.
Yet.
Vanessa met him with a cool nod and cold eyes. Reeve acknowledged Adam, but did little else. Skeet was the source of the metallic noise--- he was operating a bent metal pole as a guiding staff. He still seemed unconfident, but the pole had put a little more spring in his step. Vanessa stopped. Reeve did the same, and grabbed Skeet's arm to halt him.
Adam didn't give Vanessa a chance to open her mouth. "What are you doing here?" he asked. He stopped right in front of her.
"Adam! Hey," said Skeet.
"Quiet!" Vanessa snapped. Skeet deflated. The girl stared up at Adam with a smart smile. "We're stuck here too, in case you've forgotten."
As if I could. "Yeah, but not on this floor." Adam saw a flash out the corner of his eye. He squeezed his eyes shut and forced it away. "This is my team's floor. You don't belong here."
Vanessa and Reeve exchanged concerned glances. "Dude. You look terrible," Reeve remarked.
"How terrible?" Skeet asked Reeve.
"Like somethin' the cat dragged in," Reeve muttered to his pal. "Messy hair, bloodshot eyes. The whole nine yards."
As if you're in any way concerned about how I look, Adam fumed. He struggled to keep his tone calm. "I didn't get much sleep last night. Just tell me what you're doing up here."
"We were exploring," Vanessa said. "It sure is a lot nicer up here."
Adam narrowed his eyes. "I told you already. This floor belongs to us. Everything above your floor is ours. I don't want to catch you guys up here again."
"You guys are in every place below our floor all the time," Reeve pointed out. "Are you just gonna claim this whole place for yourselves?"
A fair point, Adam had to admit. "We're down there for repair reasons," said Adam. What could he say to keep them away? He looked back and forth between Vanessa and Reeve. "Listen. If I ask Kai to show you guys how to restore power to those floors, we'll stay off the lower levels. You can have 'em. But this place needs to be in working order if any of us hope to get home."
Vanessa considered the proposal, then nodded. "Deal. You stay off our floors, we'll stay off yours." She extended her hand to shake.
Adam accepted the handshake. "Agreed." He hated to concede in this way--- too much could go wrong. But for his own team's sake, this would have to be their best move.
They'd thank him later.
"You did what?"
Adam lay back in bed, arms folded behind his head. "You heard me, Kai," he said. "I didn't want to, but I couldn't risk it. I don't want them coming anywhere near that control room."
"Why not?" asked Kai. He paced around the room, frustrated energy pulsing from him. "I keep a good eye on that place. And now you're gonna have me away from my job, down on the creepy floors with them? Seriously?"
"Only for a little while," Adam reassured his friend. "Just show them how and offer assistance if they need it later. I need to keep them occupied."
"So they, what, won't be looking for a way out?" Kai scoffed. "Can you blame them? That's exactly what we've been doing this whole time. Seems honest enough to me."
"I'm not gonna complain about leaving those lower floors alone," said Mira. "But Kai's right. Sorry, but... I'm not following your logic here."
"My logic is fine," Adam grunted. "I've explained it already. If they find a way out before we do, they'll take it and get out of here before we ever have a chance. I'm not gonna let that happen."
"Um, hello?" Kai paused his pacing to glare at Adam. He marched toward his friend, a fire in his eyes. "We can't prove they're gonna do that. We don't even know if there is a way out down there. And really, we have the best chance of finding a way out because I'm the only guy who knows his way around the controls!" He scoffed, stopped right beside Adam's pod. "Last I checked, Vanessa wasn't a computer whiz." Adam glared back up at him, unfazed. Kai shrugged. "I'm just saying."
"We don't know what Vanessa is capable of," Adam reminded Kai, his voice low. "We never met her outside the game, remember? We don't know anything about her."
"Yeah, we don't," said Kai. "I don't trust her for a single second, believe me. But what harm could it do for her to poke around and see our boring wasteland? We could give her an all-expenses-paid tour, for all I care."
"That's the problem with you, Kai," Adam murmured, closing his eyes. "You don't see the harm in anything. Even when it's obvious."
"Yeah, well..." Adam re-opened his eyes. Kai stood stiffly, fists bunched. "You see the harm in everything. Even if it isn't there!"
"I'm just cautious. That's all."
"Point is, there's nothing up here. We've checked. Telling them they can't come up here isn't just unnecessary, it's stupid."
Adam's temper flared. He sat up, glaring hard at Kai. "Do you have a better idea?" he snapped.
Kai backed off, startled. "Well... no, but..."
Adam sighed, pinching his temple. "Thought so," he muttered. He sank back down onto the pillow.
But Kai persisted. "Look! I'm saying we don't need an idea at all. They won't make any more headway than we have, and now, thanks to YOU, we just lost access to half the AARC!" His eyes shimmered with anger.
"Drop it, Kai," Adam ordered sharply. "It's over with. Stop arguing about it."
Kai scoffed. He stormed over to the other side of the room, muttering under his breath. His voice was low, but loud enough for Adam to understand. "Sure. Stop arguing about it. Ha! You're just sayin' that cause you know I'm right."
Adam choked down the sudden, horrifying desire to leap out of bed, tackle Kai to the ground and fist him right in the jaw. Violence would cause nothing but harm and deep regret, but when he was tired out of his mind like this, it became much easier to consider the inconsiderable. It helped to close his eyes, bite his tongue, and wait for the surge of rage to pass. In short order, it did.
Adam sighed and rolled over onto his side. He'll see, a voice reassured him. He'll understand why I did what I did. He'll realize it was all for the best and then he'll have nothing to complain about.