The fridge light turned green. Max flashed his hand in a sideways motion, and the door slid open to show the carrot he had just ordered from storage. As he crunched down of the fresh orange flesh cryogenically frozen solid only moments ago, he wondered if the gardeners had grown this before the slaughter or if it had been grown by Emma more recently. Then he wondered why he was wondering about such a random thing when he had so much to do today.
After he had finished his snack, Max moved into the bathroom and took a good look in the mirror. It had been a couple of weeks since he had turned off his downtime grooming routines and so admired the stubble on his cheeks and chin. He thought that he would look more manly with a beard, maybe people will take me more seriously if I look more rugged. He moved up close to the mirror as he noticed a hint of grey and remembered that it had been around thirteen years since his gefresh which meant that his physical age was ... he paused for a second to add the numbers 32 and 13 ... 45 years. He recalled his last (and first) experience at being 45, Yeah, a few grey hairs make sense. He bent down to wash his face with cool fresh water from the basin.
After drying his face, He clapped his hands together, looking around for some other trivial task to complete. Right'o, what next? He knew the reality of the situation was that he was in procrastination mode. Today was the day that he would rescue the Churchman from the room of horrors. But it was not as simple as all that.
Taking the man down from the pile of bones carefully without causing injury was going to be difficult, and not something he could handle by himself. He asked Emma for help, but she told him that she had other work to do and insisted that Riggs would be the one to help him.
Not happy with being anywhere near Riggs, a few hours later, he met Emma again and carefully put forward a case to wait a couple of weeks for Peter Grimes to arrive. He reasoned that he had a good working relationship with Peter who was a friend from the Academy and pilot of the Merry Crabbe, the next courier in line to arrive at the outpost. Emma had alerted him of the Merry Crabbe's arrival at the system but hadn't mentioned anything else beyond that about the ship. She remained silent on the fate of Peter Grimes and reiterated, in a way that left no room for argument, that she would instruct Riggs to help him with the Churchman.
The fact was that Riggs scared Max. People in authority made him feel uncomfortable. But Riggs was, not only an authority figure, she was the boss and a killer -- he had seen the footage -- she was freak'n deadly. He imagined Riggs to be a vicious dog, just looking for a chance to break her leash and maul his body bloody.
"Emma? Perhaps you could tell Riggs to take Churchman to the infirmary, and I can take it from there?" Max said aloud as he had become accustomed to talking to Emma at any time from any place (it was as if she was everywhere at once). This seemed to him a great idea, as it would mean that he didn't have to go back to that room and he could avoid meeting Riggs.
"Too late Max." Emma replied in his head just as there was a buzz at the apartment door.
"So, that's Riggs?"
"Yes Max."
Max froze and focused on a chroma flicka that was passing through the room. The buzz sounded for a second time and then, after several seconds, a third time.
Ok, I can do this, he thought to himself as he took a hit of doze and made his way to the apartment door. He gave a command gesture, and the door slid open as Riggs stepped in, quickly closing into his personal space. He took two steps back and looked up at the tall, lean androgynous figure. Here was the first time that he had seen Riggs in the flesh under decent light, and she looked different than he recalled from the archival footage. Still an imposing muscular figure in tight black body armour, the horns made her look downright evil. But now, up close, she also looked dirty and haggard; the dark marks under sunken eyes seemed the product of extreme fatigue; her pallor seemed more unhealthy than ominous; and her body odor made him wince.
Healthy or not she looked down at him physically and, much to his discomfort, he could tell that she looked down at him with her mind also. Max thought that whatever Emma had done to Riggs, she had not broken the auger's spirit. He wondered selfishly if that was a good thing. After a second, noticing that Riggs was not going to talk first, he took the initiative, greeting with a nervous stutter, "Ah, hello. Riggs? I'm Max."
The auger replied with a restrained yet commanding voice full of contempt, "Max Jones. You seem smaller than I recall from the throne room. But I suppose it was difficult for me to gauge your true stature while you were on the floor throwing up and pissing yourself."
Immediately following this statement, the auger doubled over in pain holding her head by the horns. Max took another couple of steps back, worried that the auger was going to lose it and smash him just as he had seen her smash the alchemist in the footage. But, after a moment, the auger stood in a state of surprising composure, "The great Buddha has given you her monkey king. I am yours to command."
Max felt anxiety rising, but he managed to keep his cool as his next words formed in his head. He knew what to say next and somehow knew this would be the right way to move things forward: "Riggs. I do not expect you to like me, but we are here together so that we may save the Churchman. You look tired and in need of time to clean yourself up. Would you like to go to your apartment and rest for a while? Why not meet me, here again, in the morning?"
This time was Riggs' turn to take a step back in surprise (as if stepping down). She simply said, "Thank you, Max Jones." Then turned to exit the room.
As the door slid closed behind Riggs, Max let out a deep breath and placed his hands on his knees, shaking with a sudden release of nerves. He was shocked that he had managed to keep it together and survive his dreaded meeting with the auger.
A voice in his head spoke to him, "Max, you are indeed a special human being. I am so glad to have chosen you."
YOU ARE READING
Companionship - beyond flesh
Science Fiction"If this is heaven, why am I alone?" ... Courier, Max Jones has spent twelve years traveling to a secret refinery to receive a special cargo. When he arrives, nothing is as it is meant to be ... #futureAlchemy #augmentedHuman #churchmen #metahuman...
