Forever Friends
Chapter 6: Prelude to a New Age

There is quiet chatter among the group as strangers become acquaintances. Victor follows the crowd and socializes with the others, but he can’t help but feel like an outsider. A black sheep in the herd of prized white sheep. He has no doubt almost everyone in the room is aware of who he is and the shame that he brought on himself. He also has no doubt that they are aware of the fallout between he and his former husband, who in contrast, they welcome warmly. Victor no longer lets such actions get to him however, as he’s passed the point of embarrassment and owns his fall from grace. He silently reminds himself that he’ll replace that big story and not only clear his name but make it legendary such that the world will know him. If he can do that, then surely, he’ll finally be contented enough to live a happy life and maybe even get his love back. He looks to Percy as he thinks this, but he’s not paying him any attention. He hasn’t looked his way once in fact, since that moment during the demonstration. Victor wonders, was that just a coincidence, or was Percy really trying to help him get the upgrade to Gold VIP? Percy has always been difficult to read, so he may never know, but he can’t help but hope, even if just for a moment.

“Excuse me everyone!” The chatter quiets down as everyone turns their attention to Lena. “I know everyone has been having a lot of fun, but it’s nearly time to end the event.” There are disappointed sighs, and Lena laughs. “Yes, I know it’s a sad moment, even for Tessa and me. We’ve loved seeing everyone’s enthusiasm and answering all your questions, but we’ve still got much to do to prepare for launch of Forever Friends worldwide. However, in just a few hours, we’ll be sitting with our very own Percival Eely for an exclusive interview and look at the production of our humanoids. You all know him as your fellow journalist and perhaps even rival, but to us he is our most beloved mentor and we respect him very much. So, we hope you will all be tuning in as it’s sure to be a very insightful interview. With that, please take care as you go.”

Lena turns away from the crowd and approaches Percy, but Tessa looks directly at the group now and says, “thank you everyone!” Her voice is high and rushed, as though she was nervous, but pushed herself to speak. Her face becomes red in embarrassment and she looks down, almost reflexively. She looks like she wants to disappear, but when Lena reaches back to grab her hand in hers with a smile, she seems to relax a bit. She allows her to lead her along and the both stop before Percy, talking to him in a friendly manner seemingly reserved for him.

Victor suddenly realizes that the room has cleared out and it’s just the three and himself remaining. The fact that they seem to be in their own bubble makes him feel insecure, like he’s the outsider. Usually he doesn’t let these things bother him, but he replaces himself unable to approach them. It’s also why, despite being in the prime position, he didn’t ask them any direct questions. He managed to get some answered during their first segment, where they allowed each guest to put in their top five questions for them, which were anonymous; but when the town hall segment began, he stayed silent. He’s sure they are aware of his identity, the disgraceful journalist who broke into this lab five years ago and harassed them for answers. He can’t imagine they’d be very excited about interacting with him now. Not to mention, interacting with Percy would be awkward, since they haven’t spoken seriously in the same amount of time. So, he decides that for the sake of everyone’s comfort, he’d leave them be and be on his way.

He leaves through the door, opting not to say anything as he goes. The three watch as he goes and once the door shuts behind him, they all seem to relax. Percy chuckles as he says, “thank god he still has enough tact to know when he’s unwelcomed. I was unsure for a moment there if he might come over to talk to us. I imagine you girls are relieved as well?”

“I don’t hold any negative feelings towards him. He’s always just been doing his job.” Tessa speaks softly and calmly. “I can relate to him about the awkwardness though.”

“You’re too nice for your own good Tessa. You understand that man broke into our facility, harassed us for months and tried to expose us for some underhanded scheme that isn’t even close to the truth. I do have negative feelings for him, and you should too.” Lena speaks sternly and Tessa suddenly looks like a child who’s been scolded and goes silent. Lena realizes she may have been a bit too harsh and tries to fix it. “I’m sorry, I’m not mad, I just want you to understand that not everyone in this world is a good person. Not everyone can be trusted, and few are as trusting and honest as you. You’re honestly too naïve for your own good, but that’s why I love you.” She squeezes her hand and smiles at her, bringing the smile back to Tessa’s face.

“You two are cute as ever. What’s the secret to having such a perfect relationship? Asking for a friend.” Percy asks this with a laugh. This causes Tessa to laugh awkwardly.

Lena then responds with, “to verbalize what she wants to say, we’re far from perfect Percy. If only you knew how many times we’ve thought about calling it quits. Even just over these last few months, we were at our wits end with differing opinions for the future. Namely, Tessa wants children and I don’t. I thought we were in agreement on that ever since that time, but it seems I was wrong. She’s been resenting me for a decision we made, together I might add, ever since and I had no idea until just a few months ago when the consequences of that decision returned to us. We’ve since resolved it with a compromise, but the main issue is still a tender topic. My point though Percy, is that we are not perfect, but we make it work simply because we can no longer live without each other. Our relationship began on extremely dependent conditions and although we value and respect each other’s independence now, we still need each other to survive. In simple terms, Tessa’s social anxiety and sporadic bouts of depression are too much for her to handle alone and I’m too much of a misanthrope to live in this world without loathing others. Somehow, we were able to click and fall in love. Our weaknesses became our strength.”

Tessa looks embarrassed but says nothing. Percy realizes that they revealed a very personal issue between them and that it’s only because they trust him that they’d dare reveal such a thing to a journalist. “Well, I’m still envious of you two. Sadly, Victor and I did not have such a resolve. Sometimes though, I do wonder if I acted too rashly. Maybe we should have tried to talk it out a bit more before letting it get that serious. I honestly regret my hastiness to turn him in that night. I wanted him to suffer and realize what a good thing he lost, but I don’t think he even cares that much. I doubt he regrets anything he did. That’s what hurts the most. It feels like it was all for nothing and now we’re ruined forever. I can’t see us ever reconciling because I betrayed him. The thing is, I know he still loves me, he’s said it, but it’s because of that very fact that I think is why he’ll never forgive me. I feel like a loser, acting big and bad for show, but, if I’m being honest, I just want him to say he wants to start over. If he were to tell me that, I wouldn’t deny him. If only he’d ask, but he won’t, no matter how much I want it. Do you think that makes me weak? To be the one to end things and then be the first to want it back?”

“I don’t think that makes you weak. In fact, I’d say you’re strong for admitting it.” Tessa replaces her voice to say this, but still looks a bit uncertain of if she said something wrong.

“Yea, I agree with Tessa, but I still think you need to let him go and replace someone more deserving of you. But ultimately, it’s your life and you should do what you want.” Lena is blunt.

“Well, I gotta say, you two responded astoundingly fitting to your personalities.”

“Well, we try. Oh, and about what I just told you, that’s all off the record, got it?”

“Of course. This conversation never happened. Anyway, I’ve got to get going to prepare for tonight, so I will take my leave for now ladies. Seems like you’ve got a lot of work ahead of you as well. I wish you all the best with it and it was a pleasure seeing you girls, as always.”

“The pleasure is ours Percy. We’ll see you later then. Let’s get going Tess.” Lena heads for the door. Tessa quickly follows behind her but manages to wave and whisper a goodbye. Percy smiles to himself, thinking about how much those girls have grown into women. He really hopes that they will be successful in all things and most of all, spend their lives together happily.

***

Victor initially follows behind the others to the exit, but just before he reaches it, he spots something interesting. One of the children from the demonstration earlier was standing in the distance, seeming to be waiting for someone. He decides to get a closer look by hiding behind a nearby wall. The image of the child becomes clearer and he can see it’s the timid girl. Soon, the spiky haired boy arrives, looking rather nervous, but also with an air of confidence. Victor can’t hear what they are saying, but based on the blushing and awkwardness between them, the boy is confessing to the girl. However, once the shock passes, the girl manages to respond and by the way the boy steps back and with the devastated look on his face, the answer was unfavorable.

His sadness becomes anger as he grabs her arm, but in mere seconds, the gamer boy is there and pushes him away from her with enough force to slam the boy against the wall. However, just as quickly, the ponytail girl is by the boy’s side and face to face with the gamer boy. Things look tense and predicting something interesting, Victor pulls out his phone to record, but when he focuses the camera, what he sees sends chills down his spine. The two are glaring at him with such a threatening aura, he fears he may be in danger. They face him now and start moving closer. He starts to back up slowly but wanting to get out of their gazes as quickly as possible, he turns to run, but before he can start, he comes face to face with a familiar person. “It’s you, the crying guy from earlier! Why are you here? Nevermind that, there are droids coming this way. We must go before they attack us. They’re headed our way now!”

Simon laughs and with a smile says, “I’m sorry Sir, but who are you talking about?”

“What? Right behind me there’s two of those humanoid children coming this way. Look!” He points behind him, but looking now, he sees no one. The kids are all gone without a trace, making him look insane. “What? No, I assure you, they were there. The kids from earlier.”

Simon looks at him with confusion. “I’m afraid you are mistaken Sir. Those children are not allowed in this area and excuse my forwardness, but neither are you. The rest of the group has already left as instructed, so may I ask why you are not with them?”

Victor looks around, but there are no children or otherwise to be found. He realizes that whatever he may have seen was a sight only he saw and so to avoid appearing crazy, he’ll have to keep it to himself. “Oh, I was mistaken. I’m sorry, I’ll leave right now.” Victor starts to leave, but Simon grabs his arm and stops him. Victor looks back in annoyance. “Listen, I’m going-.”

“No Sir don’t go. I only wished to know the answer to that question, not insist you leave. I am quite glad you did not leave because I very much wanted to speak with you again. I replace you very attractive and so I would be very happy to have you accompany me on a private tour of the facility so that we may spend more time together and progress our romantic relationship.”

Victor blinks blankly, barely able to process what just occurred. “Did you just ask me for a date? Even though we’ve just barely met and haven’t even exchanged names? Seriously?”

“I don’t understand, why does that matter? I have a romantic interest in you, and I can tell you have one in me too from your elevated heart rate and stiff phallus from earlier today.”

Victor turns bright red in embarrassment, shocked he could tell that, but then it clicks. “Wait…you are a….” No doubt about it. The smiling man in front of him is a humanoid.

“Simon, there you are. I’ve been look all over for-.” Tessa approaches Simon as she says this but stops abruptly when she sees he’s not alone. She notices that Simon is holding Victor’s hand and she suddenly feels like she’s intruding, but also a sense of disappointment. “Simon, is this by chance the attractive man you mentioned earlier? The one you wanted to see again?”

“Yes, this is the man I’m interested in Tessa. I was just offering him a tour so that we may get to know each other better. I won’t go into the highly restricted areas of course and I’ll ensure he doesn’t take any pictures or record these areas. Am I permitted to do that Tessa?”

Tessa shifts in discomfort and becomes anxious as her anxiety builds. “I don’t think….” She wants to say no, but she’s not good at denying people of their desires, especially someone as purely kindhearted as Simon. She knows he’s simply acting on his instincts, as his brain hasn’t learned how to hold back on such instincts or how to read the situation, despite being able to actively learn. He’s also had limited access to the outside world and so isn’t used to dealing with people outside she and Lena and basic staff. So, to see such a handsome man for the first time, it’s probably exciting. Therefore, she can understand and doesn’t blame him for his actions, but she can’t in good conscious support the relationship, as she doesn’t think that man can be trusted. She may not hold negative feelings towards him for five years ago, but that doesn’t mean she considers him trustworthy either. She’s worried that he may take advantage of Simon to get insider information and despite wanting to protect their work, she’s more concerned over protecting Simon, as he is too naïve to the corruption of this world to catch it. “I, I….”

Simon watches as Tessa struggles to speak the words she feels and having become in tuned to her over these last six years, he understands. He turns back to Victor and releasing his hand says, “I’m sorry Sir, I think I was too rash. I cannot date you after all. Forgive me, but you should leave. Your presence makes my Master uncomfortable. Please leave and never return.”

Victor is shocked by the sudden reversal and even feels a bit rejected. He knows nothing about this man other than the fact he is a humanoid, yet hearing he has feelings for him one minute, just to reject him the next still kind of hurts and he’s not even sure if he likes him at all. He clearly replaces him attractive, but physical attraction doesn’t equate to love. The fact that Simon cannot understand that the two are not automatically linked shows his limitations, despite being very human otherwise. Victor was not aware until now that he was not human, especially after seeing him so full of emotions earlier. He realizes that they really have created something amazing here and this makes him want to investigate even more. He can’t deny that Simon would give him an easy in, but he somehow feels guilty about the prospect of using him for such an underhanded scheme, as he’s got an innocence to him that messes with Victor’s morals. Clearly his masters don’t trust him either and so getting on the inside may not be as easy as he might think. He decides that he needs to retreat for the day and reevaluate his plans.

“Yes, I should go. I’m very sorry about intruding. Thank you for your kindness towards me Simon, I’m flattered, honestly. Please excuse me.” Victor turns and heads to the exit.

Tessa looks at Simon with remorse and says, “I’m sorry Simon, I really am. I want you to be happy and experience love too. I want nothing more for you. It’s just, that man is-.”

“You don’t need to explain yourself to me or apologize Tessa, I understand you’re just worried about my safety. I’m aware that he could exploit me for his personal gain, he is a journalist after all. I don’t get the feeling that he’s that kind of man though. Regardless, I will not allow him here. I’d never do anything to betray you and Master or put the project at risk. I will see him out, to make sure he doesn’t try and double back. Is that ok Tessa?”

She smiles, happy he’s so understanding. “Yes, that’s fine Simon. Thank you.”

“Of course, Tessa. I’d do anything for you and Master. You are my creators after all. I will be back shortly. Master and I have been working on an idea and we’d like to share it.”

“Oh really? I look forward to it then. I’ll meet you in the lab then Simon.” He nods and with a smile, walks away to catch up with Victor, who was just nearly at the exit. Once they are out of sight, she turns to return to the lab, where Tessa should already be waiting. She feels happy, knowing that Simon understands her well enough to discern her feelings even when she can’t convey them. For as much as he’s like her in his nativity and blind trust of others, he’s a lot like Lena too, with her ability to read people without even trying. She laughs to herself as she thinks, he really is like their child. A child that’ll stay forever. That is her only hope now.

***

“No, I won’t do it!” Tessa shouts and slams her hands down on the table. Both Lena and Simon are taken aback, never having seen Tessa get so upset before. “I refuse to confine our clients or our droids to such intrusive measures. I can’t believe either of you would even suggest such a thing, especially you Simon. You were so worried about your fellow droids being given freedom only to have it repressed later; how is this any different? And Lena, I thought you agreed with me on the point that this was a voluntary program? You make it sound like you want the entire world to be assigned an FF with these devices installed just to monitor them. No!”

“Tess, come on. I know you’re upset, but don’t be so stubborn. Listen to what we’re saying. These neural links are only for the good of both sides. It’ll allow humans and their FFs to connect easily on the level we desire and ensure their safety. With these links, the FFs will be able to detect what their human is thinking, feeling and desires without them having to say a thing. They will be perfectly in sync and be the perfect companions. That’s what we want.”

“Yes, but naturally! You and I and Simon don’t have these links, but we’re all well synced. You both can read me without using a device, and that’s what makes it so wonderful. It shows that we are truly connected with friendship and love and that’s how it’s supposed to be. If the droids have a cheat sheet at their disposal, then it’ll take the meaning out of being connected. I can’t support this. I won’t. I know you two have been working hard on this; even if behind my back, but I won’t allow it. I’m pulling rank on this one Lena, just like you did for….” She trails off, deciding not to say anything more. She stands and walks out, looking depressed.

Lena bangs on the table angrily and sits down in a huff. “I’m the bad girl now?” She whispers this under her breath in frustration. She turns her frustration to Simon as she says, “why didn’t you help me out there Simon? You were the one who suggested this to me in the first place, so the least you could’ve done is helped me defend it. She thinks we want to become dictators or something and bend the world to our will with neuronally linked droids, but that not it. I’m all for it remaining voluntary if she thinks it’s best, but some security wouldn’t hurt. Just think of the possibilities it’ll offer. When linked, FFs will know when their human is feeling depressed or in danger and they’ll be able to protect them more readily. If they are supposed to be soulmates anyway, what’s the issue if the droids know everything they are thinking or feeling? I just can’t with that girl sometimes. She really is so naïve, thinking that everyone can have the kind of relationship we have. Project Harmony is meant to get them as close as possible, but the truth of the matter is, it’ll never reach the levels of the real thing. That’s a simple fact that she must accept. I’m done fighting with her though, you convince her now.”

Simon had been silent, but finally speaks. “I wouldn’t worry Master. I think that Tessa will come around eventually. I’ll handle things from here, so please just make up with her and be happy Master. I’ve learned that things always work out as they are meant to. Surely.”