The silence stretched from uncomfortable to awkward… and then straight past that to downright excruciating. Mac did the only thing he could do. He painfully stood up and grimaced aloud as he did so, bringing Amethyst’s green eyes back around if for no other reason than to ensure he didn’t fall… or finish him quickly if he did. Somehow, he wasn’t fully convinced she would get in all that much trouble if he were to expire.

  “If you fall before you make it to the bathroom, I’m going to just let you wet yourself,” Amethyst threatened.

  “If I wet the carpet, you’ll be the one to clean it up,” Mac threatened back. “Better hope I make it in one piece. It would be a shame if I tripped on something and you got pulled away from your machines an extra week. There’s a distinct chance your soul might be corrupted by the extended human contact.”

  Amethyst took a deep cleansing breath allowing a bothersome memory to at least temporarily escape leaving only a faint smile as a remnant of its passing upon her freckled face. “It’s far too late to prevent that, laddie. Let me move that out of the way so you don’t trip,” she advised as she delicately picked up the servo she had been tinkering with while he slept with a small washcloth. The mechanic breathed in the familiar calming scent of fresh lubricant and her shoulders relaxed a bit more.

  “Thank you, Amethyst. I wouldn’t want to inconvenience you any further,” Mac replied as he shuffled towards the bathroom.

  “I’ll call the Future Center and have your lad meet yo… us for breakfast,” she offered as she closely examined the piece of mechanical apparatus to avoid eye contact. “This servo’s not getting any worse.”

  XXXXX

  “Hi, Dad!” Zach waved his arm as he ran over from the caretaker in front of the cafeteria.

  “Hey, Zach,” Mac waved a hand carefully in return as Amethyst stood behind him trying her best to be the cool professional. The paper hat with the red crayon circle ruined that like a limp handshake at the start of an interview.

  Zach ran over to his dad and only stopped from attempting to jump into his dad’s arms at the last moment when Amethyst cut in front with a look of terror in her green eyes. “Easy there, laddie.”

  “Cool! Do you have your own doctor?” Zach looked up at his dad in amazement.

  “No,” Mac shook his head gently even as he smiled. “Amethyst is just here to make sure I don’t get hurt any more than I already am.”

  “Janessa said Miss Natalia saved you… and almost killed you, both at the same time,” Zach gushed. The four-year-old then added thoughtfully, “Can you do that?”

  “We adults commonly call that ‘a job’,” Mac quipped even as he wobbled a bit.

  “Let’s get you inside and seated,” Amethyst very carefully supported his shoulder and suppressed a cringe at the physical contact. “You can just tell me what you want today, and I’ll grab some grub for us both, laddie.”

  “Why do you keep calling me, ‘laddie’? I’m fairly certain I’m older than you,” Mac quizzed the mechanic as he eased himself down in his chair. That was more painful than he had expected. Best to just sit upright.

  “Just… an old habit, laddie,” Amethyst dismissed the comment. “Now, what do you be wanting this fine morning?”

  “Eggs, a bagel with jelly, and a glass of orange juice, please,” Mac replied hopefully, wondering when Amethyst would become herself again.

  “Okay, laddie. Just sit here and try not to hurt yourself,” the fake nurse replied before turning to leave.

  “Daddy, she walks funny,” Zach confided softly to his dad as Amethyst swayed away. “She talks funny, too.”

  “It’s called an accent, Zach,” Mac replied somewhat confused. “Surely, you’ve heard someone talk like that on TV.”

  “A little bit,” Zach replied, then he added thoughtfully, “I think she just sounds like she really means it. Oh, I need to get food, too.”

  With nothing to do but wait, Mac drummed his fingers on the white tablecloth mimicking the notes of a song that happened to be floating through his mind. It was from that TV show with the guest star kids that kept getting eaten by dragons. Sure, the bedcover might save the foolish kid for a time, but the dragon always got their tasty morsel eventually. Why did he even let Zach watch that show?

  Mac was startled by the thick hand that landed on his shoulder and jostled his entire body. It was an effort not to scream.

  “Joe,” he managed to say through gritted teeth.

  “Hey there, Champ. I see your lazy butt is finally out of bed,” the handsome man smiled disingenuously and clapped him on the shoulder again.

  Mac gritted his teeth until the pain subsided enough to reply, “Please, don’t touch me.”

  “Are you bothering my patient, laddie,” Amethyst threatened Joe Campbell through steely green eyes as she set Mac’s plate beside her own on the white tablecloth.

  “I don’t believe we’ve met,” the handsome man put on his best smile and gave the mechanic a quick once over with his blue eyes. “I’m…”

  “An idiot,” Amethyst finished for him. Her hands had already found her hips, not that that was much of a challenge.

  This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

  “That’s not fair,” Joe spread his hands helplessly. One drifted a bit too close to Amethyst for comfort, and she smacked it away with a sharp flick of her wrist. “Hey I’m just…”

  “…So stupid that even the oxygen gets infected by your natural imbecility and canna find a way to your brain?” Amethyst tilted her head and smiled disingenuously for effect.

  The smile finally dropped from Joe Campbell’s lips to be replaced by an expression of genuine annoyance, “Look…”

  “Aye, I can see… that you are so short of wits, it’s a miracle your two brain cells allow you to even stand,” Amethyst continued. “How are you still breathing?”

  Joe rolled his eyes and stepped away, “Don’t think just because you’re pretty, you can just say whatever you want, Miss whoever-you-are.”

  “And do not think you can just say whatever you want,” Amethyst shot back spitefully as she glared at his retreating form.

  “Hey, Mac. Nice to see you up and around,” Natalia greeted Mac with her tray in her hands. She gave Mac’s ‘nurse’ an inquisitive glance then asked carefully, “Is it okay if I sit here. It’s been a day or two since I’ve had a chance to assess the progress of Zach’s spoon flips.”

  “I’ve got my arch down perfect. Reggie taught me,” Zach explained confidently.

  “Who’s Reggie?” Mac and Natalia asked simultaneously.

  “He’s one of the older kids at the Future Center,” Zach explained. “He can hotwire a car in under fifteen seconds.”

  “That’s because it’s the same car and the panel is loose,” Janessa explained as she sat down. “It takes me under a minute, but I’ve only done it four times,” the trollip almost bragged.

  “Who’s she?” Natalia couldn’t hold her question any longer and pointed her knife at the fake nurse seated almost across from her.

  “I’m…” Amethyst realized there weren’t many good options to choose from and simply went with, “…his caretaker.”

  The two women exchanged appraising glances like two cats who both claimed the same territory until Mac broke in, “This is Amethyst. She works…”

  The elbow in Mac’s ribs took his breath away.

  “For the company,” Amethyst concluded with a fake smile.

  “Where have I heard your name?” Natalia wondered aloud as her brain performed a deep search. “I’ve seen you before. That red hair.” The memory came back. “You were talking with the shock lead and Safety Ed after I saved Mac.”

  “You nearly killed him, lassie,” Amethyst retorted. Mac felt a gentle hand on his shoulder.

  “He was dead already. I brought him back,” Natalia placed both her slender hands on the table as she leaned forward. “You’re the Amethyst, aren’t you! The one everybody’s been talking about.”

  The besieged mechanic looked a bit paler than before, if that was possible, “Everyone?”

  “You are her!” Natalia concluded. “You’re the one who nearly killed Mac! He’s like my… only friend.”

  “Uhm, I’m sitting here,” Mac added weakly.

  “You hurt my dad?” Zach asked the distressed red-head.

  “That’s not what happened, laddie. Natalia, here, is the one who broke his ribs,” Amethyst attempted a redirect.

  “Why?” Zach asked the vampire, looking genuinely offended, as Amethyst sighed in relief.

  “It’s called CPR,” Natalia explained for what felt like the thirtieth or possibly fortieth time. “His heart and breathing had stopped don-cha know. I had to resuscitate him,” her northern Vespucian accent broke through glaringly.

  “What does resuscitate mean,” Zach asked genuinely confused.

  “I know that word!” Janessa jumped in, “It’s like when you kiss someone so they can breathe.” She inserted a bite having confidently displayed her immense vocabulary.

  “You kissed my dad?!” Zach looked up at Natalia in horror. “Ewww, gross.”

  Mac didn’t see the confused red-head beside him point her fingers at Natalia. “I thought you just started his heart again?” Amethyst quizzed honestly.

  “Weren’t you at the debrief?”

  “I was a bit tired on account of being awake so long that even my coffee cup disrespected me,” Amethyst vainly tried humor.

  “CPR stands for cardio… pulmonary… resuscitation,” Natalia explained herself.

  “’Pulmonary’, that’s where you loot the money out of their pockets when they’re dead,” Janessa explained to the sagely nodding boy.

  “Wait…” Zach finally connected loot to the actions of Natalia upon his dad.

  “You need to help the subject breathe,” Natalia gazed directly at Zach and Janessa, somehow catching them both in a single arresting stare. It had to be some kind of vampire thing. If they weren’t careful, they could lose their souls. “You take a deep breath, then you blow air into their mouth.”

  “So, you shared his air?” Janessa asked incredulously as she covered her own mouth with both hands. She couldn’t seem to decide whether that was extremely cool… or gross. Maybe both…

  “No! I mean, yes. But no,” Natalia relived the horrible argument from before.

  “So, you two… are…uh?” Amethyst motioned back and forth with a finger and thumb.

  “No!” Natalia and Mac both answered at once shaking their heads negatively.

  Janessa nodded her head, “yes” to some unheard beat.

  “Can I still call you, Miss Natalia?” Zach asked as he reassessed his position in life.

  “Yes, of course,” Natalia answered quickly, “But…it’s not like…arrrghh!” she finished with her face in her hands.

  “Sorry to interrupt,” Safety Ed parachuted into the conversation from who-knows-where, “Amethyst, can you bring Mac down to the hangar after breakfast?”

  “Sure, laddie. May I ask why?” the Mechanic relished the break from the topic and tried to extend it.

  “We think we’ve got the Type-3 cleared and we need someone to test it,” Safety Ed explained.

  “You cleared Haley out of the suit?”

  “That’s just it,” the grey-eyed human replied. “None of the readings of the suit showed anything that resembled her. Just a stripped-down AI. We deleted it and double washed the core just to be safe.”

  “You attempted to delete Haley?!” Amethyst’s mouth dropped open in shock.

  “No, it wasn’t her. Miss Windsor confirmed that before we started the sequence,” Safety Ed explained. “We’re not that foolish… Well, not usually.”

  “So why does my patient need to attempt so many stairs?” Amethyst asked logically.

  “Just being safe,” the head of safety replied without any sarcasm. Then, he added genuinely, “Mac, are you sure that your AI was really Haley?”

  “Yep, I’m reasonably confident it was,” Mac replied as Safety Ed’s grey eyes closely observed his own. “I don’t think I would forget someone that tried to kill me.”

  “You need to understand, Mac,” Safety Ed explained gently, “Haley is a vicious AI that not only is quite capable of electronic warfare but is a master survivor as well. She’s not known for going down without a fight.”

  “Yep, I got all that,” Mac nodded affirmatively.

  “Also…” Safety Ed continued carefully as though trying not to upset him, “We did a check… carefully I might add, and…”

  “And what?” Mac asked directly.

  “We think Haley is still in her quarantined file,” Safety Ed revealed.

  Amethyst’s lips quirked briefly upwards at the news, and she struggled to suppress a wider smile.

  “So, if Haley is still locked down,” the Mechanic began, “Why do you need Mac down in the hangar?”

  “To turn on the suit and make sure it’s safe.”

  “Why Mac?” Natalia asked reasonably.

  “Mac drew the short straw,” Safety Ed explained simply.

  “How can I draw the short straw… when I’m not even there?” Mac held his hands up helplessly in front of himself.

  “That’s why you need to attend meetings,” Safety Ed smiled widely. “I’ll see you down there after breakfast.”

  “I was going to spend the day with Zach,” Mac replied rather disappointed.

  “It's just a simple test and should only take a few minutes,” Safety Ed reasoned. “Go ahead and bring your son. He can watch the excitement from Control.”