[cont. from previous chapter due to character limit]

Later, when Nikolai was already asleep, Robert thought that this whole hassle with the bed was unnecessary. The boy slept curled like a cat in one corner, wrapped in a blanket like a protein roll. Robert found himself watching him blankly, his tinkering project abandoned on his lap. That was when his mother rapped on the door softly.

“Downstairs.” She said quietly when he looked up and walked away.

Moishe was in his room, talking loudly in a group comm call, audible even through the closed door. But when Robert walked into the living room, he found his two other brothers there together with his mom. The sofa was unfolded and prepared for sleep, but she didn’t put on her night dress yet. (Golda gave up her room to Natan when he got married, and Robert moved into his old one instead of sharing with Moishe. Now, she slept in the living room, which made it impossible to sneak into the kitchen for a midnight snack.) 

The way the three of them sat at the dining table felt like an interrogation was about to start. Robert decided to take initiative in his hands as he lowered himself into the last chair.

“I showed him around, and he brushed his teeth on his own. And he was kinda confused about the concept of a sink and tap water, but he picked it up pretty fast. And I gave him my old t-shirt to sleep in, instead of the one you gave him because I am still wearing that one.” 

“So, he is talking to you.” Hershel gave him a stink eye, not even trying to make it a question.

Rob shrugged with one shoulder. “A bit, yeah. Not to any of you?”

“No.”

“Like…at all?”

“Like, at all.” Hershel parroted and sighed. He turned to their mother, shaking his head. “I don’t know. Professor Kamelka agreed to take him as part of the preschool class so they can evaluate his level of knowledge but what good would it be if the boy refuses to talk to her?”

“Why does he need to go to school?” A strange worry started churning in Robert’s stomach. “Are they not sending him back to the system he is from?”

“No cargo haulers currently in orbit are heading back to Minu.” Natan was pulling at the edge of his beard absentmindedly. “And even if they did, the ship crew are not even sure he is from Minu. He has an ID chip, but it is blank.”

“There are thousands of ways to wipe the ID by accident. Are you contacting Minu authorities? Surely, someone’s looking for him?” Robert regretted not taking a piece of tech  to fidget with. Instead, he had to tap his fingers on his knees.

“We are. You should not burden yourself with this.” His mother cut him off, her expression strict. “If we receive information about his family, we will find a way to return him home.”

“If… How long is he gonna stay here?!” 

“As long as needed.” She gave Rob another ‘drop it’ glare.

“So…forever?“

“Until he is 18, or gets accepted into the boarding school.” Natan got up with a huff. He had a stain on the front of his shirt, probably from feeding the baby earlier. “I should be going, I have work in the morning. Please, get some rest, mother.”

“Or until they assign him to the Quiet Home.” Hershel added darkly when his older brother left.

“Enough with that.” Golda pushed her chair back, her mouth a thin line of disapproval.

“You know it’s a possibility.” He rolled his eyes. “The way I see it, the moment the school finds out he doesn’t talk, they’ll report it to the hospital. And do you know how closely they watch these issues to make sure they are stamped properly at 18?”

Red stamps were assigned to those who refused or should not be allowed to have children, as far as Robert understood. Mostly, it was for the deviants, but not always. He didn’t realise being weird in the head was something that qualified a stamp but it made a lot of sense: if this was genetic, it was probably undesirable to have more kids like that.

“He is a child who had a traumatic experience. They should help him with that, not lock him away from society.” Their mother spoke slowly, separating each sentence. “I’ll talk about that to Doctor Landau tomorrow. You’d be wise not to spread this as a rumour, Harry.”

“He is not weird in the brain.” Robert suddenly leaned forward. “He talks to me like a normal kid when the topic interests him. We talked about tech.”

“Was it ‘we’ or was it you talking at him and assuming he was interested?” Hershel smirked.

“Oh, shut up!” Rob glared back. “He asked me to show him the translation processor from my scrap. He pointed it out! He knew the name!”

“What else did you talk about?” His mother asked in a softer tone, clearly taking his claims seriously.

“Well, about that processor mostly. He says he knows STRATI!” Their blank faces made Robert groan. Moishe was undeniably the dumbest member of the family, but Rob’s other relatives were not much smarter. “STRATI is one of the high-level programming languages. Not a single teacher at our school can code in STRATI. You probably can’t learn it on Mesa outside the university or something!”

“Well, Moishe used to say he knew the kid star of Minedivers when he was 12, so excuse me if I have doubts.” Hershel shook his head. “I’ll ask Kamelka to get him through basic coding literacy tests, I guess. But for now, I should also go to bed. It is important that I arrive at the office early tomorrow.” He was the only brother working in the managerial wing of the Northern mines and not in the shafts themselves, even if he was just a lowly assistant instead of a proper manager. For some reason, this was pissing off Natan and his friends from work.

They stayed in silence after Hershel left. His mom stared into the middle distance, her interlaced fingers resting heavily on the table’s surface. Robert tried not to fidget too much but he really wanted to go too. He didn’t have a good excuse, as his school started in the afternoon.

Finally, she turned to him and spoke quietly. “Please, talk to Nick more. Try to find out what he is like.”

“I am trying.” Rob sighed, annoyed again. “He kinda shuts down each time I ask about his past.”

Golda nodded. “I understand. But maybe you can find some other connection with him. We have a few weeks to make sure he settles in well.”

“Why did you take him in?” He finally asked. “Even though you knew we had no space for him? Auerbachs have spare rooms. And Aunt Ofra offered the bed instead of-”

“Don’t badmouth Ofra.” His mom cut him off. “She can’t take in a child so soon after her son died. Letting us borrow his bed is the first step in healing.”

Robert pursed his lips but didn’t press on. He felt a bit ashamed about not thinking of it before talking.

“Still…”

“I grew up in the Care Home, Robert. Thrown inside one at a very similar age. I would not let them send Nick there.” She got up and headed for the bathroom. “Go to bed.”

He sat alone in the room for another 5 minutes before finally heading back upstairs. This day sucked.