Connection

Chapter 3: Faint Light

One week had passed since Martin's Creature Power Suit malfunctioned, Aviva spent most of her time cooped up at her inventing station fixing the Creature Power Suits. "Tomorrow will be better" was what Chris always said to himself before he went to sleep, but his older brother had been treating him the same since then. At this point, it was no more than a sentence uttered by the deranged.

Chris squinted at the radiant sun in the morning, he yanked the curtains shut, and went to the bathroom, hoping he could wash his existence down the drain. He skipped his routine of looking in the mirror, stretched his legs, and cracked his neck. He was ready to meet his friends, and face the wonderful day ahead of him.

Aviva stood up from the couch and approached him. "Chris, are you okay? You look pale."

"I'm not sure what you're talking about, I feel amazing," Chris said. "Someone is in the kitchen, right?"

"Yes, Martin is in the kitchen. How did you know?"

"I can hear his loud munching from my room, it's driving me insane. Is he eating scraps?"

"Munching? Scraps?" she thought to herself, Martin was drinking a juice when she was in the kitchen earlier. She held her chin. "Then why don't you eat breakfast?"

"Not interested, just hearing his name made me lose my appetite." He giggled.

Everyone stared at him upon hearing his statement, and reaction. Jimmy took a few steps back from where he was standing. Aviva stopped Chris when he walked towards the entrance of Tortuga HQ. "Where are you going?"

"You're funny," he said, snickering, "so many questions asked, even the most obvious ones."

"I'm just making sure because Koki said she has been having issues communicating with you. Did your Creature Pod break?"

"No? I've been doing fine without it anyway." He huffed. "Are we done? I'm not planning to return before evening. Go ahead, and eat dinner without me."

Everyone gathered around once he left.

"Something is definitely wrong with him. Did something happen in the last few days?" Aviva asked.

"Not that I recall." Koki folded her arms. "Although I noticed he has been going farther, and farther from Tortuga."

Jimmy scratched his head. "He hasn't eaten in the last three days, and I didn't expect him to ignore the leftover pizza yesterday."

Koki said, "Are you serious? I thought he already ate them when I went to the kitchen at night."

He shook his head. "No, he didn't. I was full at the time, and I didn't want to throw it away, so I gave it to Martin instead."

"He wasn't acting like himself when we were talking. His eyes felt distant, I thought it was because he just woke up, but it might not be the case anymore."

He fled from the other two and hid behind a pot. "Time out! Don't tell me he's possessed."

Aviva sighed. "Don't be silly, he's not possessed. He doesn't seem to have the spirit, or motivation in him, and I'm sure we all know who's responsible for this."