Zhen hang up. Well, that didn't go exactly as planned. It didn't matter. She just had to find a way to make it Finn's choice to leave. She'd start small. With a classic. The silent treatment. It was the beginning of the weekend, so they were, presumably, both going to be home for the next two days. Perfect for the silent treatment. Nothing like having a sulky, stone faced, passive aggressive, silent roommate to rile you up. She'd add broody to the list. Maybe she'd even tut a little every so often. In disapproval of Finn's actions in the common areas.
Sure, it was childish, but whatever. She wasn't going to give Finn the pleasure of good company. She wasn't going to engage in challenging, simulating, and enjoyable banter, while smoking weed and sneaking into restricted areas, watching the stars, and dreaming out loud. Zhen took a deep breath. She buried the memories and the feelings they brought with them. If she was being completely honest, it was a matter of life and death to get Finn out of this apartment. There was no way she could survive her again. Not this time. All the walls she'd built around her already had cracks in them just from seeing her. No. Finn had to go. No matter what.
Her silent treatment plan would have to wait until Finn left her room. She headed over to her own room and picked up the VR visor.
"Hey big sis!" said Akemi. "You're late."
"I'm sorry. But it's only by 5 minutes. Ready to eat my dust?" said Zhen.
Akemi giggled. "We play every Friday night and you haven't beaten me yet."
"Tonight, is the night! I can feel it." said Zhen, relaxing into her chair. "Set her up."
Akemi started the table tennis program and put on her AR glasses. She twirled the table tennis paddle in her hands and set her stance at the other end of the table. From Akemi's point of view, the ball and Zhen would be digital projections in her augmented vision, but she'd be moving around in the garage, making all the physical moves to hit the ball. It was a fun way to bond with the ten-year-old. Akemi served first.
"How's school?" asked Zhen after losing a few rounds.
"I made a new friend," said Akemi. "His name is Maxwell Pierce and he's building his curriculum around Geology. He wants to be a miner. In space."
Of course, he did. Finnegan's Engine had incited a wave of future asteroid miners. Zhen made a note of the boy's name. She'd later run a thorough background check on this person and set up a monitor bot in his system and ask Pearl, her AI, to keep an eye on him. Couldn't be too safe when it came to boys. Not when it involved her little sister.
"That's nice," said Zhen. "Did you figure out want you want to do?"
"Not yet," said Akemi. She stood up, missing Zhen's volley, concern etched on her face. "Does that mean I'm a failure, Zhen?"
"No, it doesn't." said Zhen. "It means you're an explorer. Your job is to explore as many things as possible until you find that one thing that you wouldn't mind exploring forever."
Akemi smiled and nodded. "I like being an explorer."
"That's all that matters," said Zhen. "Remember, everything you learn is useful. Even when you fail."
"I fail a lot," said Akemi, a bit sad.
"And that's awesome," said Zhen. Akemi looked up at her, uncertain. Zhen continued. "Failing is how the universe pushes us to be the best version of ourselves."
"It is?"
"It is," said Zhen with a smile. "Failing a lot means that you have more chances to learn how to get back up and try again. And the more times you practise that, the better you get at it, and the better you'll be at doing the most difficult things in the world."
Akemi smiled. "It's like a muscle."
"Exactly," said Zhen. "So, are you willing to keep exercising that muscle?"
"Yes! Every time I fail, I'll try again. I'll be the best at trying again," said Akemi, with an intense seriousness that gave Zhen goose bumps.
"That's good."
"Just like you," said Akemi, nonchalantly. "You fail every time we play table tennis, but you always come back."
Zhen laughed and smashed the digital ball, scoring a point. Akemi's mouth dropped.
"I think I won this set," said Zhen, smug. She made her AR avatar to do a little happy dance.
*
Zhen didn't speak to Finn all of Saturday morning. Finn tried to get her to speak, but Zhen held firm, staying silent, answering with single syllables, or redirecting the question to Gavyn. After a while, Finn gave up and asked Gavyn to stream some news. Zhen ground her teeth. She hadn't expected that. She remembered Finn being a lot more persistent, no, stubborn. Instead, Finn suddenly became incredibly invested in a largely publicised, ongoing case of this aerospace engineer serial killer who'd been arrested a couple of months back and was now about to start his trial on television. As Finn watched the case, she completely shut Zhen out. It was disconcerting, especially because Finn wasn't even using her VR setup. She'd asked Gavyn to project the screen onto their living room wall as she lounged on the couch with some popcorn and freshly made sangria full of roses, mints and thymes.
So much for the silent treatment. Or was it on purpose? Zhen smirked at the thought, as she looked at Finn gobbling up the popcorn while watching the boring trial proceedings with an unnatural focus. There was a huge possibility that Finn was playing her. Messing with her. Zhen wouldn't put it past her. It had been a few days of this now, the week having started with both of them leaving early after quiet mornings and then Zhen coming home to find Finn glued to that trial, conversing with Gavyn at the same time and totally ignoring Zhen. She would have to up her ante.
Zhen headed back to her room and began searching on the Open Source Collective library for the right design. She found what she was looking for and began printing it. She then ordered for the paper that went with the labelling machine she'd just printed. Her new plan would be completed the next day. Zhen's mission to do everything in her power to slowly drive Finn crazy enough to make her desperate to move out was moving to the next level.
Zhen woke up early a couple of mornings after to carry out her new plan. She made sure to set her very loud rock metal alarm for 5:30am then snooze it several times until around 8am. That should be irritating enough. She'd keep that up all through the upcoming week, maybe even every day from now on. Should be fun watching Finn's response to that. Walking around the apartment that morning, Zhen noticed that there were already a few changes to it, even though Finn had only been there for less than a week. It seemed like she was always making some kind of herbal tea, so the whole place smelt just like her. Herbal, warm, homey. She hated and loved it at the same time.
There was also a slight buzz of energy in the air. A sense of life. Anticipation. Zhen was surprised to notice that, but she guessed it was because the space had seemed almost dead with Murdoch as a roommate. Back then, they'd both lived exclusively in their rooms, actively avoiding each other. He was also extremely stoic. Set in his routine, which Zhen appreciated by the way because she liked when things were predictable, Murdoch had almost seemed more robotic than the robot cleaner that ceaselessly patrolled the apartment floors. Finn was the complete opposite, bringing unpredictability and flux into the apartment, waking up all the common areas with her conspicuous presence and always talking, usually with Gavyn.
Zhen took a moment to revel in the changes. First, to appreciate them. Then after, to remind herself why she couldn't let this continue. Flashes of a long-forgotten nightmare obscured her vision for an instant. Broken glass. Sputtering blood. Crashing disappointment. Burning tears. She brought her vision back into focus and steeled herself for the task ahead: getting rid of Finn. The only way she could save her sanity.
Zhen went on to label all her food in the pantry and in the refrigerator with her name. Then she added a note to let Finn know not to touch any of the clearly labelled products. Including the seasoning, which Zhen had no real reason to label except for being a pest. She almost always printed her food and didn't need to season any of it. Finn, however, had so far cooked every meal on the stovetop, like a caveman. Messing up the stove counter space and generating a ton of dishes. Zhen held on to the slight aggravation that this caused her, building it up from a molehill to a mountain of resentment.
"Really? The salt too?" said Finn later that morning as she made scrambled eggs with chives. And, consequently, without salt.
Zhen smiled to herself as she devoured a stack of perfectly printed pancakes at the dining table. She worked to keep a straight face, watching a little cube of butter melt from the top of her pancake stack and mix with the 100% Canadian maple syrup that her dad sent over from their homemade stash every fortnight. She took a sip from a glass filled with ice cubes and orange juice so she could hide her smile when Finn turned to look at her. Sitting across from her at the table, Finn nonchalantly asked her AI assistant, Ares, to order new groceries for her, including salt. There was slight irritation in her voice. Was it the obnoxious, early morning, rock song alarm? The labels? It didn't matter, Zhen was winning. That's what mattered. Suddenly, those pancakes tasted infinitely more delicious.
Later that day, after coming back from a run, Zhen opened the fridge to a surprise. "What the..."
Finn had labelled her stuff too. Not with her name. The labels were written on sticky notes by hand. 'Bear scat' and 'Wildlife E. Coli Sample' were on two of her opaque leftover containers, 'Serval cat heart – high in protein' was on another. A bottle of lemonade had the label 'Piss' on it, with a 'You have been warned' sticky note after that. Finn's half of the refrigerator was filled with other similarly ridiculous labels. She'd done the same with the items in the pantry. Zhen had to bite back laughter at some of the labels.
"Oh, she's good," Zhen whispered.