Automation Era: The Battlefield

[4] glitch

[4] glitch

I didn't know what to do. Irene's relentless staring and shocked expression made me uncomfortable more than anything, so I lowered my eyes, cheeks flushed.

Angelo gave me a look, one that was both scrutinizing and not exactly scrutinizing, and he must've understood whatever had shocked Irene about me. "Oh," he said. "Oh, no. I didn't think...I didn't notice..." He let out a shaky sigh. "This can't happen right now."

Irene calmly closed the door, but Angelo slammed a hand onto it, keeping it ajar.

"Two years," Angelo said, still balancing the door open, tip of his shoulder against it. His voice dissolved into a whisper. A quiet plea. "I've been waiting for two years. I can't anymore."

There was exhaustion in his voice. So, so much exhaustion. He'd masked it well with all his anger. "Don't blow my chance just because Jake looks...a little like Xander," Angelo continued. "I need you. You're the only Support I trust."

I frowned. Xander. I wondered who that was, how similar we actually looked. I wondered why it rattled Irene.

Irene glanced at Scarlett, now actively avoiding me. She faced Angelo again. "They're..."

Angelo nodded. "Yeah. Humans. And who knows when we'll find ones again if we let them die, Irene? They won't survive alone here."

With sad, eternally glossed eyes, Irene looked at Angelo. Maybe empathizing with him. Maybe understanding him. She blinked, slow, but something. A reaction at least. Then her crimson-coated lips parted, and she whispered with a torn velvet voice, "I'm sorry. I can't right now."

The last person she looked at was me, and then she closed the door.

The silence that followed drowned my lungs. Mostly because I could summarize the entire encounter like this: I'd reminded Irene of Xander, which made her too uncomfortable and sad to focus, which meant she couldn't help us right now, which meant we'd have to wait longer to figure out what roles Scarlett and I were.

So basically I screwed everything up without even trying.

Amazing.

Angelo rubbed a hand over his face, shoulders more tense than ever. Pretty sure Scarlett was fuming right now. And me...I was just standing there, reserved, hands clasped in front of me, thinking: I swear I didn't mean for this to happen.

"So now what?" Scarlett said. Years old anger resided in her voice. "This is your best Support?"

Angelo looked like the world had crashed on his head. "She's just shocked. We'll go to my Tank's house and by tomorrow she'll have calmed down and she'll figure out your roles."

"Really? You really think I'm about to go anywhere with you again?" Scarlett snorted. "Screw you and your Support. Screw all of you. Stupid pieces of metal pretending they're the boss of me."

Like a funnel. Always. I knew Scarlett more than I knew myself. First start insulting Angelo, whatever the current problem was, then narrow down to her real issue: the entire system-living in a world bots controlled.

I wouldn't piss Angelo off right now. I wouldn't break the truce. Kinda ruined the entire personal-issues-aside-and-focus-on-advantage. Expectedly, Angelo's distress melted into anger that matched Scarlett's, and he reached for the hilt of his sword as if it was a habit. "How many times do I have to tell you that we don't have a better choice," he hissed. "I swear, if I didn't need you, I'd throw you out and watch all the other androids tear you into piece-"