“Byxx is out with Curtis to go over some sort of exercise program.” Khazmine smoothed her hair with one hand and glanced at the wall clock to gauge how long they’d been gone. “And Zayzann is with the human, Gerry. They went fishing today. He has the device, and promised to advise you if anything came up.”
“I wish I could meet Gerry.” Iris mused absentmindedly. “It’s so nice that you all are making friends and getting out in the world. Aside from Curtis and Ramona, I don’t really have too many human friends anymore. I lost track of my classmates after graduation, and my coworkers are…”
“And you have us.” Khazmine sat beside Iris on the ragged couch and gave her head a soft, comforting pat. “At least, as long as you want to keep us around, that is.”
“What a thing to say.” Iris feigned indignance at the idea that she would even consider kicking the roommates out of the apartment. “You guys are my family. In a lot of ways, you’re all I have left.”
Something about the way Iris lingered on that last point resonated with Khazmine, and she observed anomalous readings and an alert on her system display. A diagnostic chart flashed an orange light briefly in her field of view before vanishing without Iris knowing. Khazmine recognized the reading but didn’t want to acknowledge it in front of Iris. Elevated electrical output, emergency systems on standby, and a re-routing of power that stabilized her essential operations all told Khazmine what she didn’t want to believe. She was afraid.
“Nonsense. You have much to live for.” Khazmine countered. “And with our help, you have a full life to look forward to. I promised, didn’t I?”
Iris leaned into Khazmine’s shoulder, took a deep breath, and sighed. The scene was identical to when Khazmine was a young organic, only she was the voice of comfort this time. This doubt and fear… Did Ruby have the same worries when she and Khazmine were struggling on the streets of Old Sarzonn? Was Ruby aware of how little time she had left back then?
The faint hum of Khazmine’s body lulled Iris into a relaxed state, and she lingered on the couch while leaning against her mechanical ally. Khazmine reached for her black gloves on the coffee table while she tried not to disturb Iris’s rest. There was a possibility of Khazmine discharging energy if they were to make skin contact, and it was a risk to remain unprotected. The front door opened just as Khazmine finished fastening her gloves in place.
“Shhh…” Khazmine whispered and pantomimed to Zayzann, who was carrying a plastic cooler full of fresh fish in his sun-drenched arms. “Don’t startle her.”
Zayzann gave a gentle shake of his body and shifted back into his Paxoram form while still carrying the heavy cooler. He tiptoed into the kitchen, stowed the fish in their refrigerator, and sauntered back to the living room to get a better look at their sleeping roommate. Despite the strong smell of fish, Zayzann quickly detected a worrisome scent.
“I smell blood.” He whispered to Khazmine. “What happened?”
“She didn’t say, but I suppose she was injured at work.” Khazmine pointed to the cut on Iris’s hand and applied gentle pressure on the sleeping woman’s shoulder to wake her. “Mistress, Zayzann is home.”
“Oh, hello there.” Iris greeted through a yawn. “Welcome back.”
“Can you tell me what happened to your hand there?” Zayzann pressed and tensed his brows until the muscles drew his facial crest feathers upwards. “Did someone hurt you?”
“It was an accident. I ran into a coworker, literally.” Iris shrugged. “She came around the corner at the same time I did, and I wasn’t quick enough to avoid hitting something sharp she had. It was my fault for being so slow.”
Zayzann absorbed this information, noted the distressed expression, and slumped shoulders Iris adopted as she spoke. Not knowing what else to do, he settled between the couch and coffee table into a loaf on the floor and was still tall enough to stoop low and rest his chin on Iris’s knee. He gazed up at her with vibrant, veridian eyes with x-shaped pupils and allowed the nictating membranes to clean them once before she met his stare.
“What? Why are you looking at me like that?” Iris scoffed playfully.
“No reason.” Zayzann teased back. “Just hoping to cheer you up. Is it working?”
Iris shook her head, smiled, and retrieved her cellphone from her pocket. She typed in a few things into the phone before breaking the silence.
“Do you want anything from takeaway Chinese?” Iris asked both roommates. She had forgotten Khazmine’s physiology for a moment, and blushed at the realization that she was inorganic. “Zay? How about you?”
“No need to worry about me.” Zayzann leaned back and puffed his down triumphantly. “Gerry taught me how to use a fishing rod today. We have a whole cooler full of fish. I’ll have some of that.”
“That’s great! I was telling Khazmine how pleased I am that you’re making human friends. Good for you.” Iris praised. She typed in her takeaway order and got up to head to the bedroom to change out of her work clothes. “Give me a few minutes to decompress. I’m gonna grab a quick shower, then I’ll be right out.”
Zayzann and Khazmine exchanged pleasantries, traded stories from their respective days, and waited for Iris to emerge. In the meantime, Byxx opened the front door with a deliberate creak to warn the roommates of his imminent arrival. It was still surprising enough to get a jolt from Zayzann and Khazmine, who barely had enough time to shift and camouflage to hide from Curtis, who had followed Byxx in.
“What brings you here, Curtis?” Khazmine asked while casting a brief glance at the bathroom door to clue Byxx in on Iris’s whereabouts. “Have you come to stay for dinner?”
“I can’t tonight, I’m afraid.” Curtis sighed with flushed cheeks and a sweaty brow. “Plum wore out tonight. I’ll bring snacks and we can spend time together on Saturday night for our game though. Does that work?”
Iris emerged from the bathroom wearing a caramel-colored robe and twirling a towel around her hair to dry it off. She waved to the roommates, welcomed Byxx and Curtis home, and didn’t appear self-conscious in the slightest about her appearance. None of the roommates seemed to mind, but Curtis sputtered and excused himself from the conversation, sneaking out of the front door and down to his car. In the distance, the barking of a grumpy dog carried through the sweltering summer night.
“If you guys are still planning on running the game on Saturday, we should tidy this place up beforehand.” Iris suggested. Each roommate took a room to tidy, with Iris fixing up the living room throw pillows and picking up what looked like one of Khazmine’s broken plates left in a saucer on the coffee table. “Khaz, is this one of your—”
Picking up the plate had disrupted the thin layer of light blue coating that covered one side, spreading a fine powder into the air around her hand and face. The powder clung to her skin and refused to detach, despite Iris shaking her hand and rubbing it against the terry cloth robe.
“What is it, mistress?” Khazmine emerged from the kitchen with a bar towel in hand. “Are you all right?”
“Yeah, but I think I got some of this, uh, stuff on me.” Iris held out the plate and showed it to Khazmine. “Is this toxic?”
“I have no idea.” Khazmine admitted. “In truth, I hadn’t lost a plate like that in a long time, nor run into an organic with a detached plate. Does it hurt?”
“No, but I figured I’d ask to be sure.” Iris dropped the broken plate into a plastic bag and returned it to Khazmine. If anyone could find a use for it, she would. “Can’t be too careful, you know?”
A knock on the front door alerted the roommates to a stranger’s presence. Iris was still in her robe, and she pleaded with Khazmine to answer the door for her as, well, Iris. Khazmine dutifully activated her camouflage to answer the door and intercept what was surely Iris’s food delivery order. Except, it wasn’t food.
“There you are.” Mrs. Rozniak scoffed and lowered her hand from knocking again at the opened door. She had her miserable dog beside her, muzzled and held tightly with a reinforced leash. “I saw your light on and wanted to know if you’d made up your mind yet on renewing your lease.”
The dog that usually growled and barked at Iris winced and shied away from Khazmine, with her ears drawn back and her tail tucked firmly between her legs. Jasmine was incredibly hostile to humans but cowered in front of the Augment while wheezing out a pained whine. An unblinking, cold stare from Khazmine cowed the aggressive dog, who was growing increasingly upset by an inaudible frequency that the Augment emitted. Jasmine let out a single, fearful yelp when Khazmine took a step out onto the landing, only to be silenced by a jerk of her leash.
“Shut up, Jazzy.” Mrs. Rozniak commanded the cowering canine to heel. “Honestly, I don’t know what’s the matter with her sometimes.”
“I’m afraid I wouldn’t know, ma’am. I’m not much of a dog person, myself.” Khazmine imitated Iris beautifully, down to her demure, unassuming mannerisms and posture. She struggled to buy the real Iris some time to form a proper reply, and stalled as best as she could. “As for the lease, I’d like to look over the paperwork, if that’s okay. Can I stop by the office tomorrow to pick it up, please?”
“I’ll just drop it off in your mailbox.” Debra countered. “You get off work late, and I don’t want to wait around in the office for you.”
“Very well then.” Khazmine appeared to be immune to Debra’s callous responses, which surprised the shrill human. “Wishing you a pleasant evening then.”
Khazmine exerted significant self-control not to slam the door in Debra’s face, having overheard what misfortunes she had visited on Iris in the past. The door lock clicked into place as Khazmine dropped her camouflage and turned to check on the other roommates. Byxx poked his head out of the spare room to investigate, followed by Zayzann in the bedroom. Iris was the only one who didn’t regroup with the others.
“Guys, could you come over and look at this, please?” Iris beckoned from the living room.
Zayzann arrived first, and immediately recognized the familiar scent of his distant homeland wafting in the room. It was a delicate yet potent aroma that tickled his nose, causing him to sneeze violently enough to raise his ridge of cranial feathers.
“May the Makers bestow their blessings.” Khazmine offered reflexively. “What’s wrong, mistress?”
Iris locked eyes with each roommate with a stricken expression, searching for answers. She held up her wound for them to examine, but they could find no trace of an injury on her hand at all.
“Gods old and new…” Byxx muttered as the others stood speechless around their confused companion.
Comments (3)
See all