3G: the Glowing Green Goo

When Aran had to leave for her own job, Zax was thoroughly impressed by her sheer grit. After the eye-hand coordination game came the memory game, and she had only changed when it was undeniable that exhaustion negatively impacted her score. Zax was almost certain she would have gone that far at Memory-Melody too, if her job hadn’t pulled her away.

It also had the unexpected effect of pushing some people to buy those games; her good mood really was communicative, and maybe her determination had inspired some too.

By midday, Zax’s sales had reached the level of an active day despite the low season, and he was pleased by the current development of Stat Maker. He copied his current progress in a smaller Zax-box made for a single dose of nanites, synchronised with Aran’s nanites in order to replace the larger one currently in use that blocked several doses. It would fit in a standard detachable pocket and let him bring the excess doses back home.

The human didn’t miss the tailed girl’s awkwardness when she mentioned her job, and he felt cheap for ignoring it, but he had a more important matter to settle first.

He took what he would need for the afternoon’s orders, then a quick stop-over home to put the box away, and more importantly to gather his girlfriend’s belongings. He didn’t have any big luggage, but he didn’t need to for she had few personal possessions. He hid a quick message only she would understand at a place she would most likely be the first to see, and he was on the way to the education area.

Today was the last day of school, so she would get out earlier than usual, just after the last of her charges left the premise.

Zax thought he would arrive quickly, but he had underestimated the flow of parents and children on the light road. The computer adjusted each user’s path to let them cross each other safely and overtake the slower ones, but the usable surface was fixed, and with the massive opposing flux it had no other choice but to slow him down. It was still the fastest option, so he didn’t leave and hoped he would arrive on time at school.

He didn’t.

“Oh, hello Zax; Sorry, Quinn left just a few minutes ago with two friends.” The elderly and snouted caretaker stated when he noticed him at the entrance.

“Friends? Anyone you knew?”

“Err, now that you mention it, no, I didn’t recognize anyone. Uh, and here I was, thinking I knew all her friends.”

That was all the confirmation the box needed. That caretaker’s snout was very sensitive to smells, and his olfactive memory as peerless. Zax wasn’t even sure it was part of the mutation, but if he didn’t recognize someone it meant they had never left their smell even just on someone he had met.

It had made him the damnation of Zax’s group when they studied there. He knew where you had been and what you had done in a few sniffs.

It also meant that whoever his girlfriend had left with, they never had any direct contact with any member of the school since at least before he was a student. Including parents, students and teachers.

“You do.” The human stated factually. “Do you know where they went?”

“Not really,” the elderly shrugged. “I think they went with the rest of the crowd.”

“Thanks, goodbye!” Zax was already running back before the old man finished his answer.

“Ah, to be young again.” The old caretaker chuckled, shaking his head.

“Nice. How did you find us?” Quinn asked when he joined her group. Her words might seem cold but her tone was appreciative.

She didn’t seem surprised, just curious. And maybe fondly exasperated too. A great contrast with the two men next to her, who were still shocked speechless from the random man without obvious mutations who had stopped their march out of nowhere and was currently ignoring them.

“I tried to catch you at the school, but M. Oldman said I barely missed you, and that you left with a few friends he never met before. I went to a light road disk and looked in the history for groups of at least three without children, but for a strange reason there was one group I could not get the data about. Something about a clearance level or something. It was clearly a bad prank, so I just reported the problem to the maintenance, and even if they fixed it in less than a second, most of the data were too hazy to be read and it will take days to fix the damages.”

“Damages?” The pink eyed woman rose her eyebrows at that, briefly glancing at the smallest of the pair that accompanied her. The one who just started fidgeting and oozing awkwardness.

“Yeah, a very bad and awkward prank. Clearly amateur work, probably someone who found a hacking bot or software and thought it was enough to be a big shot. Whoever they are, I hope for them they didn’t plan on making a career in programming. No amount of mutation and enhancement can compensate for a sloppy mindset.” Zax shook his head. “I mean, seriously? A clearance code for one of the most open and public webs ever? What was it, their first time on an actual network?

Anyway, I could still read parts of the programmed path. It carefully avoided the Arya Family’s main hideouts, so I looked at the Kogito family’s. That kinda limited the possibilities of where your end point would be; one was closed for renovation and one is a place you wouldn’t be caught dead in. Then it was just a matter of going to the last one and looking for the prettiest face in the crowd.

Nice hair by the way, but I hope you didn’t use those aggressive products. You know what they do to the scalp.”

“No, don’t worry, it’s just a wig.” The new brunette causally lowered her head down to the side to show him better, but he knew her enough to see it was a way to steer the conversation and hide her expression.

He liked to think it was red cheeks and a smile on slightly trembling lips at his not-so-subtle complement.

“A wig?” the in love boyfriend rose an eyebrow, sceptical. She hated those, too uncomfortable and itchy.

“It can’t be helped, pink hair is an obvious distinctive trait; we can’t have that when trying to sneak around, but I need to keep them so I could be recognised.”

“If they need that to recognise on of their own, it’s not a great place to be.” The human stated plainly. “That would explain why you never mentioned them even in passing though.”

That stab at their dear family broke the stupor of the two statues.

“How dare you insult the family!?”

They were surprisingly in synch. Down to their mannerisms, Zax noted.

“How do you know where the Arya and the Kogito’s hideouts are?” The pink eyed woman shut them off with the more relevant question they should have asked first, even if she already knew the answer.

The human held back a smirk as belated realisation crossed the two men’s faces. They had just confirmed their allegiance.

“It’s common knowledge.” He shrugged it off.

“Wha-!”

“What do you mean by ‘common knowledge’?” The shorter man interrupted the angry comment of his wider friend with a more serious question, putting a hand on his torso to stop him from rushing forward.

“Er, that it is common knowledge? Like, something everybody knows? Asking any random person in the street would give similar and accurate answers? Because of how wide spread this information is? Not a secret? Making it very common? Like common knowledge? Sorry, am I overcomplicating things?” The last question was oriented toward Quinn, as he felt like he was missing something.

“It was a weird question, but not really important.” She masterfully took the conversation in stride and put it back in the rails.

“Wha-”

“Are you going to tell us why you are here?” She ignored the overwhelmed pair of clowns that accompanied her and kept the conversation going.

“Ah, right.” He gave her one of his bags. “You forgot a few things. I couldn’t bring everything, but I wanted to give them back and… that’s it.” He was doing great playing it casual so far, but he couldn’t help a bit of emotion from slipping in his voice and eyes in the end.

It lasted less than a second, but of course Quinn wouldn’t miss it. Just as the lie in the last words.

“Thank you. I am glad you did.” She took the luggage and nodded softly.

That was all the answer he needed.

To any watcher, that conversation would look like an ordinary chat, but for the involved people it went deeper than that. The two add-ons knew this conversation was not supposed to happen, but the two actually involved people understood what had been left unsaid.

By finding and coming to her, Zax demonstrated that he expected her sudden and unannounced departure, he wasn’t surprised by her hidden connections and other secrets, and he didn’t resent her for either. He understood she had her reasons, he respected and trusted her enough to not push further. Just as he didn’t insist when she refused to talk about her mutation.

By staying so casual when he found them and not pretending she didn’t know him, Quinn confirmed she didn’t leave because of something he did, but also that neither of them could do anything about it. By keeping her wannabe bodyguards in check, Quinn showed she was in a position of authority, which came with responsibilities she couldn’t shirk on. The itchy wig confirmed she took her duties seriously.

By giving her belongings back, he stated his acceptance and support of her decision, even if he didn’t want it one bit. Like she, he would cut their ties and wouldn’t try to contact her again. He could have arranged for all her possessions to find her, but he chose to keep a few as memento, his way of saying he would never forget her and would cherish the time they spent together.

By accepting the luggage, she reciprocated his feelings and promised not to forget him either. Their time together had been most pleasant, but it had to end now.

By not introducing himself to the unknown pair and not asking for their names, Zax had made it clear how little he cared about them. By not even calling them by names, Quinn confirmed they were utterly irrelevant. It surprised Zax, he thought they were old acquaintances at least or old friends at most, he took it in stride.

Zax wasn’t sure why Quinn had not mentioned his name either, but he had a hunch it was either to help in their separation, or to make it harder for her side to come to him later. Probably both, if experience was anything to go by.

Their relation had a lot of those unsaid statements. One would even say it was the very basis of their relationship, how it started, how it grew and now, how it was finishing. It took a certain level of mutual trust and self-confidence, and perhaps a type of insanity to make it work, but against all odds, they did. Or they had, until her past caught up with her.

The human was ready to take his leave, but his former girlfriend stopped him:

“I hope you appreciate my parting gift. It should have been in your living room when you woke up this morning.” The pale girl added with a smirk.

“I knew you had something to do with it. What was the great idea?” He hid his fond amusement behind a mask of resignation and the deep sigh of someone who was, again, being used for her entertainment.

From the way the irrelevant pair tensed after looking at each other, then unconsciously drew back as they looked at their charge, it was the right decision. Re-establishing her authority.

“A long-term replacement. Very long term, if you play your cards right.”

Zax didn’t understand that one as easily, but still quickly puzzled together that Aran was meant to replace her. But unlike her, the fox tailed girl wouldn’t have to leave anytime soon.

He didn’t know what to think of that. The pink haired and pink eyed woman he had spent almost a year with was unique and irreplaceable, but he trusted her judgement. The contradiction paralysed his thought process, so he reverted to a flat, objective and mechanical statement:

“My theories might throw a spanner in the works.”

I might activate her mutation. She wouldn’t be able stay no matter what you did.

“But I appreciate it regardless.” He added when his brain unlocked. Nothing implied here, he just stated what he meant.

A simple “Farewell.” Later and they were parting ways.

For the very last time.

Zax wanted to turn and look back on her departing figure, but if she really was an important figure among one of the main families that controlled the higher levels of the Shelter, it would only mean trouble to her and frustration for him. He could only hold back and try not to get in the way.

Like he always did.