The Neighbor Next Door

An old, new face

MePhone 3gs was nineteen years old. It was one of the last nights he was going to be living in this house with his dad and younger brothers, and of course, his dad was nowhere to be found, surely working another unannounced late night. Meaning it was 3gs's responsibility to make dinner. He knew he and his brothers didn't need to eat, but it was something they liked to do, just to feel more human. At least, that's how 3gs always saw it. He grew up pretending to be one, because he really did feel like there wasn't much future for him if he were to be outed as a mechanical mind. At least, not a future he wanted for himself. Sure, when he was younger, he had to go to those business meetings with his dad, and show off all the tech stuff, but that was all secret and quiet. Never public, and it was over for him now. Now that he had two younger brothers, who were admittedly more technologically advanced than he was-- and looked more human than he did, well, the mantle of being shoved into those meetings was theirs now.

3gs was getting off focus. He was supposed to be making dinner, so that's what he shifted his focus to, listening to his little brothers talk as something played quietly on the table. He couldn't tell what the two were talking about exactly, but the two sounded like they were having fun, so he didn't really register most of it as he started something simple, deciding to just go with ramen tonight. He didn't really feel like doing any proper cooking tonight anyways. He still had to finish packing anyways, so he needed the extra time, grabbing a few microwave safe bowls, and getting everything ready. As the first one was going, one of his siblings walked over, curious enough to check what was going on.

"What are you doing?"

"Noodles." 3gs shrugged, looking down at 4s, who pushed his shades a bit further up his nose. 3gs stifled a laugh. It was a little silly to him how he wore those shades everywhere-- especially with them being about two sizes two big for his small face, though 3gs knew when Dad made his 'not so young anymore' body, they'd probably fit just fine. It was silly to him, but 3gs knew those things helped him feel safe, so he never truly saw any problem with it, or reason to judge. He glanced over to the living room to check on blue, seeing he was sitting on the floor in front of the coffee table, doodling on what looked like blank printer paper.

"Just noodles?"

"Well, we didn't have much to choose from. Do you want any of that ham we have in the fridge with yours?"

"No."

"Go ask Blue,"

"He doesn't like ham."

"Oh, yeah. Right, okay, well--" he pauses, taking the first bowl out to cool down, setting it on the counter.

"First one is done."

"I'll bring this one to Blue," 4s spoke, grabbing a fork, and the bowl, heading over to the living room.

The nice thing about eating dinner without dad, was the fact they didn't have to sit at the table to eat. While 4s headed to hand over the bowl, 3gs got started on the second one. 4s stayed over by the couch with his brother now, just waiting.

"Do you know when Dad's getting home tonight?" MePhone called out from the living room.

"Like usual, no clue. That's fine though. Just means we probably have enough time for a movie night." 3gs just looked over to his siblings with a smile, watching as they both looked over at the mention of that, excited at the idea. A movie night would be nice. Maybe a last normal with his family before he left for college, really. He just hoped his siblings would look out for each other while he was gone, really. He thought maybe it would've been a good idea to teach them how to make stuff, but he knew the two of them were smart. They'd figure something out, at least.

.

.

.

Dad was home on the day he was leaving. 3gs was bringing everything to his car. His dad was somewhere in the house, already aware he was leaving today, and his little brothers were out in the yard, watching him.