Connection

Chapter 2: Rift of Separation

Chris' body felt a little lighter after he had rested. He greeted the morning sun, excited about the possibility that his older brother had also woken up. He sauntered out of the room, and he was right. Martin stood in the hallway with his head wrapped in bandages, talking to Jimmy and Koki.

Chris greeted. "Good morning!"

Jimmy and Koki smiled. "Good morning, Chris."

Weird. Martin didn't greet him back. It was unusual. He always greeted his younger brother with a smile, and sometimes with a hug. But this time, he froze, staring at the two people he was talking to. "I'm going back to my room. I'm not ... feeling well. Talk to you guys later." He parted to the guest room, leaving his friends behind.

Jimmy whispered, "That's not his room, right?"

"Yeah, it's the guest room," Koki said. "Aviva and I brought him there yesterday. I thought he was going back to Chris' room."

Chris slouched his shoulders and lowered his head. Jimmy and Koki exchanged looks with each other, at a loss for words. An awkward silence crept into the hallway.

Chris decided to break the ice. He asked, "Where's Aviva?"

She replied, worry planted on her face. "She just crashed. She spent the entire night fixing the Creature Power Suits."

"I hope she doesn't strain herself. She's an important member of our team after all." He excused himself and dragged his feet back into his room.

Both of them decided to leave the brothers alone.

Jimmy nudged Koki on their way to the lounge. "Don't you think it's strange, Koki? What happened between them?"

"I know, but we shouldn't bring that up in front of them. Didn't you see how disappointed, and shocked Chris was when Martin ignored him?"

He plopped on the couch and reached out to grab the handheld game console on the table. "Should we bring this up to Aviva?"

"It's too soon to jump to conclusions, Jimmy." She folded her arms. "It probably was the best for Martin, he did say he wasn't feeling well." She leaned against the chair at her computer station. "He has a concussion, you know."

Thirty-five minutes had passed. Koki was observing the vicinity of Tortuga HQ through her computer while Jimmy was focused on clearing a stage in the game. Both of them were unaware of a figure that crept from the hallway, it trudged towards Jimmy, and spoke in a grim tone. "I'm going outside."

Jimmy jumped out from the couch. His face was pale as a sheet. "D-D-Dude! You scared the heck out of me."

"For goodness' sake, Chris. Don't scare us like that," she said, mildly annoyed. "You've to rest, you're still injured."

Chris apologized. He had no intention to scare his friends, but pretending to be cheerful wouldn't make his situation any better either. "I just need to catch some fresh air. I promise to return before evening."

"I suppose it can't be helped." She sighed. "All right, don't be reckless out there. I'll make sure you don't get into trouble."