SEQUENTIAL ━ Connor // RK800 ✔️

twenty ━ an early snow

• • •

The silence lingering between them was nothing short of undesirable to Connor, even as it fit in with the house itself, a minimalist design succumbed into the dark stillness of the night, a museum of shadows judging them for moving about at such a late hour, when no travelling figures were expected to be out of bed. He has remembered to put back his shoes before joining Mia on this strange night investigation, but the sound of his steps was only as big of a problem as the sound her bare feet against the cold floors.

Once they made it downstairs and came face to face with the long dark hallway awaiting their movement to trigger the bright lights above and reveal slowly just how deep it ran below the house, the silence was no longer acceptable. Connor was still troubled about the conversation Mia was hoping they would leave behind, but he knew better than to pressure her into continuing it right away - he had to ease her back into it, even if to do so meant that he'd have to take a deliberate interest in her current distraction and channel all his patience as preparation for however long it will take him to get her there.

Connor resorted to looking down at the keycard she was holding, giving it a brief scan before looking back ahead. "What are you hoping we find?" He inquired, thus taking the initiative in not letting the silence linger for too long.

"I am hoping we find nothing," Mia admitted, the walk pace she dictated certainly backing up her previous claim that this was indeed just a pursuit chosen in the detriment of laying around in bed, waiting for sleep to get to her. "I suppose I am hoping Chloe had some malfunction on her wiring from all the steam in the bathroom, but knowing my recent luck, she's probably caught the deviancy virus and we are walking into some sort of trap."

"If it is a trap," Connor replied with casual seriousness, "it would be wise for you to let me enter the lab first."

Instantly, her elbow nudged his arm. "Connor," Mia whined. "You're not supposed to believe my crazy theories. You're supposed to present me with a more believable alternative."

"I'm sorry, Mia," Connor did not hesitate to play along with her return to casual conversation. At least she'll be talking, he reasoned with himself and his curiosity before focusing on the fact that she clearly required some reassurance just then. "Perhaps the Chloe did experience some malfunction and misunderstood Mr. Kamski's work intentions. Isn't your birthday coming soon?" He glanced her way. "Maybe all we'll do is ruin his surprise for your birthday."

She smiled, because though she recognized he was being uncharacteristically positive only for her sake, she couldn't help but appreciate his attempt to lighten up the mood after she so clumsily ruined everything with one single word she still couldn't believe her own stupidity for saying. "My birthday's still a month away," Mia sighed.

"Twenty-fifth of October, I am aware," Connor allowed himself a small smile as the information was brought before his eyes accompanied by the memory of the first birthday she celebrated at the lab with him. It was a Saturday, and by no means would anyone have been upset if she took that day off to celebrate her birthday in a much more lively and entertaining place than the plain lab. But there was little that could stop Mia from working, he'd come to learn when she arrived all the same, right on time and holding a box with twelve cupcakes.

'We just fine tuned your oral cavity analysis sensors,' he recalled her saying while she presented him with the assortment of sweets. 'I thought we could test them out with twelve different flavours which you should be able to identify.' He couldn't appreciate taste the way a human would, but she let him sample from the cupcakes anyhow, let him take his time to analyze everything and even allow him to choose an objective favorite from the bunch. Knowing what he did now, he looked back and realized that perhaps that's exactly how she wanted to spend her ideal birthday, and it wasn't just a compromise she had to do for the sake of work and duty.