I stall as long as I can and return with a plate with a grilled cheese and a bag of potato chips. I hand it over to Noah. He has stopped typing, but still is sitting next to his computer. He looks concerned.
“Sorry, I forget to get you that beer.”
For a moment Noah laughs, but it fades just as quickly as it comes. “Where is Cherie again?”
“She wanted to rest today—we need to pack on Saturday,” I say with a heavy heart as I let out a sigh and sit down upon the old dusty grey couch. I rest my head against the back of my hands.
“You couldn’t do it?”
“Nah,” I say, disappointed in myself. “I can’t take away someone’s dream like that. I can’t just be like, you think we’re in Paris, that we travelled here on Sunday… when in reality, we haven’t gone anywhere. Oh, and things are really shitty right now for people like you.”
“You don’t agree with what is going on?”
“It’s senseless… I mean I understand fear. But, you, Cherie… you’re all still just people. I don’t see a difference between you and anyone else. I go places and I see signs that say no Unstables… I take Cherie out to get groceries and she gets called a freak, and people stare. The only thing that separates the normals from the Unstables is luck… really, blind stinking luck. It should be me, you know, not you. I know you don’t remember who you were… but you were talented. Cherie was talented. I saw her paintings, they were all amazing. There is nothing amazing about me. It should have been me rather than either of you two. Anyway, you probably heard they’re releasing a better Calm next month and they say a cure is less than a year away. So I think things are going to get better.”
“Most people think we’re not even human anymore,” Noah says as he looks to me and nods. “I was right about you, you’re a good Sitter.”
“Yeah well, I do appreciate that.”
“Did you see that Hunter get strung up.”
“Yeah I did,” I say as I try and shake the terrible image in my head. I dislike seeing violence, especially if I know that it is real… I remember all those action movies before V-Day, I used to have no problem watching someone explode a bad guys head with an assault gun… but, now it all just sticks with me and weighs me down.
“I laughed.”
“I figured you might,” I say as I shake my head. “I guess someone had to pay for what happened.”
“Let’s play a game of chess,” Noah says as he gets up and walks over to the board. “Before I get all stupid again and incoherent.”
“Alright,” I say as I get up and sit across from him. “You’re going to win this time, right?”
“I am, and after this I want you to leave for the day.”
“Did I do something wrong?” I ask. There is something strange going on with Noah today. I hope this is not a sign that something bad might happen—then again they say there are no signs per se. If he was going to go Aggro it would just happen.
“Just not feeling well,” Noah says as he shakes his head and wipes his tired eyes. He looks like he hasn’t slept at all. “The closer it gets to Sunday, the more tired we get. Don’t be surprised if your Mirror wants to sleep most of the day tomorrow.”
“I understand.”
The game begins, I make the first move.
“Take your pill, by the way,” I say as I watch as he scans the board.
“You almost forgot,” Noah says as he gets up and goes over to the drawer and pulls out the bottle and takes out one of the pills. He tosses the bottle back into the drawer and swallows it without any water. “Not a good sign.”
“Second day in a row,” I admit, regrettably.
“Maybe there’s a reason for it,” Noah says as he shrugs. “It being your first week and all that nonsense.”
“Probably,” I reply as I move my castle to the middle of the board.
“I’m sure you’ll catch on to everything soon,” Noah says reassuringly as he makes another move.
A few moves later, I find myself losing pieces. In mere minutes, the game is completely over—just as he predicted, Noah has won.
“You beat me,” I say in a bit of a state of shock. I am not displeased in the least. I’m actually happy for Noah. It is almost just like old times. I never thought I’d be so happy to lose again.
“Now you should go,” Noah says as he gets up and escorts me out. “Call into the caseworkers office, just tell them it’s too close to Sunday and I’m getting exhausted and irritable… it happens.”
“Are you sure you don’t need anything?”
“Can I ask you a question?”
“Of course,” I say as I nod.
“We used to be friends, for a long time right? I remember you said that… anyway, if I went Aggro and you had a gun, could you shoot me? Could you do what it takes to put me down if I were coming for you… if I were going to kill you?”
“No,” I answer without hesitation. “I couldn’t do it to her…”
“You shouldn’t say things like that. You’re new though. You’ll learn how to get a tougher skin.”
“Right…” I say, more confused than before.
“I wrote something, thought you might like to read it. It’s probably babble, but—you said you liked my writing,” Noah says as he retrieves a crumpled up piece of paper and hands it to me, he squeezes his hand over mine. “Read it when you get to the car. I don’t want to know how incoherent I can be. Now get out of here.”
I nod, “I hope you feel better.”
Noah doesn’t reply. He simply walks back into his room and shuts the door behind him. I make my way up the stairs and exit the house. I sit in the car for a few moments, unsure of what to do. I feel a strange sense of rejection. I pick up my phone.
“C-Shapes Office, Katharine…” I say aloud.
“After a few moments she picks up.
“Ethan, do you need anything?” She asks as I can hear her busy typing away in the background.
“I’m out here at Noah William’s residence; he was really irritable today—said that it was getting too close to Sunday and that he was tired. He wanted me to leave for the day, he was pretty adamant about it, actually.”
“That’s fine Ethan, enjoy the rest of your day off,” Katharine replies.
“Thanks,” I say as I pause for a moment. “Is there anything else I need to do?”
“Don’t forget your date on Sunday—if it’s not a love connection you’ll at least pick up a lot of useful tips from a seasoned veteran like her… who goes by…”
“Michelle Sydney.”
“The boy can be taught,” Katharine says with a short laugh. “Anyway, take it easy—get caught up on your sleep. Let me know if it’s like that with Cherie tomorrow. Sometimes these things do happen when it gets close to their hibernation periods.”
“Will do…”
“Thanks, Ethan. Bye.”
I place the phone back into the pocket of my black slacks. I remember the crumpled piece of paper and carefully unfold it. It bears a single message upon its surface, and it is not nonsensical at all. ‘Come back early on Monday, leave your C-Shapes badge in the car… bring the girl. This is very important—Noah.’
Confused I crumple the note back into my pocket. Could this be why he was acting so strangely? I chalk it up to another one of his conspiracy theories and drive away. On my way back I think about checking in on Cherie. However, I know that it is not a good idea. I decide to just head home.
I order some delivery from a local Chinese restaurant. I spend most of the day reading an old favorite book, ‘Watership Down.’ I do not do anything productive. When evening comes I do not even watch the news. I know this is only my fifth day of actual work… however, with the extensive time training and so many new experiences this week, it is nice to relax and do very little for once. Although it reminds me of a time when it was just about all I did… times I’d rather not remember at the moment. After all, I have a trip to Paris to pack for tomorrow.