Jude had had enough, he exhaled sharply as stood up, dragging the chair to his side. He took a long breath and closed his eyes for a beat before looking back to Nyx.
"I'm going to leave now." He said, "I'm going to get a job here, and I want you to think about what you want to do. I'll come back tomorrow, and if you decide it's what you want, I won't help you. I won't say anything and I'll never come to this room again." Jude stuffed his cold hands into his pockets and looked at Nyx, wondering what he might say.
Nyx nodded a little. He lay back down in the pod and plugged himself in. "You need to close the pod before you leave." he said simply, eyes flicking up to the ceiling and tracing the lines and edges that he found there. "If you don't close it, there will be trouble." he didn't know what sort of trouble; just that there would be.
Jude moved towards the pod and rested his hand on the outside.
"Just…think about what you want. I'll be here tomorrow." He said before closing the lid.
(maybe later on, you could do his dads POV when he says he wants to work there?)
(Yeah I totally can :) )
"There won't be any thinking going on. I'll shut down once the pod is closed." Nyx replied with a slight shrug. His left eye was definitely glowing now, a result of being plugged in. As the pod closed, he closed his eyes. Shut down begun. A few minutes later, words flashed through his mind. Shut down complete.
Jude watched as Nyx laid down and said those final words to him, as the metal top of the pod closed and the room was quiet. His hands rested there and his gaze lingered on his warped reflection staring back at him. He knew what Nyx had communicated to him; his hopelessness was the result of the years of abuse, and Jude felt like he, too was trapped between the choices of right and wrong. Would leaving Nyx here be just as cruel as the experiments they did on him? Or was his final wishes of solitude the least he could give him? Jude sighed tiredly and began walking to the door. He looked back to the pod once more, turned, and strode into the empty halls.
Nyx lay still and silent, shut down. He merely breathed.
Jude's father was waiting impatiently for his son to arrive, seated at his desk. Papers lay in front of him, his computer opened up and waiting for a command.
Jude walked down a series of well-lit hallways, his pace quickened and direct. Finally, he'd reached his father's office, a lone room with glass walls overseeing the main lobby and meeting rooms below. He knocked on the chestnut door, firmly, and reminded himself to act confidently, as if nothing were the matter, and to stand up straight.
"Come in." His father called, shuffling the papers on his desk into a neat pile and looking at the door. When Jude came in, he gave a tight smile. "Ah, Julian. Done with your tour already? And what do you think of the facilities here? They aren't our only facilities, of course, but they are the largest."
(what's their relationship like? And what's the dad's first name?)
(kind of awkward, jude wants to make him proud, and his dad always expects a lot from him, Aaron is his first name)
"Afternoon, Dad." He greeted, walking into his office and sitting one of the two cracked leather chairs in front of his fathers' desk. Mahogany, of course. Jude noticed, running a quick finger across the varnished edge.
"Yeah, the guy, Dave or Dylan or something, showed me all the.." He paused, mumbling, looking for an example of where he'd been, "-Nooks and crannies of this place. Pretty sweet setup, I gotta say."
Aaron nodded. "Alright. So. The big question. You going to be willing to work here, take on the mantle someday?" he asked, linking his fingers together on top of the desk and looking at Jude carefully.
Jude swallowed, and almost let his eyebrows furrow together, but chose a neutral smile in hopes to show some interest. "Uh, well-" He began, "I'm going to say yes, to working here, at this facility if that's okay." A quiet, nervous laugh escaped from him, What am I getting myself into? He asked himself.
"I'll be working in robotics, and I'd like my own lab, on the ground floor, cause you know– heights." He shrugged comically. "I kinda wanna be left alone, but…" Jude sighed, "I accept your offer, work here."
Aaron blinked, a little surprised that Julian had caved in so easily. "Ah. I see. Do you have a lab in mind already?" he asked, raising his eyebrows and studying Jude carefully. He wasn't quite sure what to say. "Or would you like one assigned?" he looked at his computer, typing out a command. "There are a few empty or nearly empty ones that might work."
Jude wracked his brain for the part of the building that he knew was on the inner corner of their city's 'grid', that he knew had a back entrance to an abandoned parking lot and playground, that the skyscrapers of the business moguls reluctantly built around. If all went to plan; he might be able to sneak Nyx into a hollow server CPU and into that particular room.
"How about room thirty-two? That one's empty, right? It's got that parking that no one really used." Jude said, trying to act casual, like he'd just thought of it.
Aaron checked the computer, then nodded. "Yeah, it's empty." he replied. "Why that one, though? You know that you aren't allowed to bring anyone who hasn't been cleared, right? There are sensitive projects here that can't be disturbed, some of which have been in development for longer than you have been alive." he looked at Jude.
"Yeah, of course, I'm not dumb," Jude said. Though in this moment he felt very foolish. "I've been thinking of this project.." He lied, "It's something like..a security droid, that's' movement capacitors have… higher degrees of freedom." Jude nodded. "Soo, I need the parking lot- for the space. So I can see its mobility factors…properly."
"Ah, that does sound like a good idea." Aaron agreed, and tapped on the computer for a moment. "That makes sense. I've put you into the system. We'll print up a security badge for you as soon as possible, until then…" he pulled a slip of paper from a drawer, sliding it across the desk to Jude. "Here's a temporary one."
Jude smiled with false gratitude, and took the paper, mumbling his thanks.
"I know it sounds weird, but I..really want to do this." He said, "I'm going to do something…good, with my life." Remembering Nyx, he thought about what he'd just said and decided that it wasn't a lie, and that Jude was really determined to fix this.
Aaron nodded. "That's good." he looked at his computer again, tapping out something on the keys. "Make me proud." he said, giving Jude a small, rather tight smile. "If you want to go ahead and get started, you can. Or if you would rather go home and started tomorrow, that's fine."
"Yeah, thanks, dad." He sighed with relief and stretched his arms out tiredly, "Honestly, though, I'm beat." Jude chuckled, standing up slowly. "It was good seein' you, and uh, say hi to ma for me." With a polite nod and tight-lipped smile, he waved goodbye, mumbling a bit and basically threw himself out the door. Real smooth, He thought to himself sarcastically and making his way to the elevator. "Now, to get the hell outta here…" Jude muttered.
Aaron nodded, and turned to his computer as Jude left, answering emails and questions, and fielding inquiries as to research and experiments and projects.
(timeskip?)
(sure, to when he wakes up?)
(yeah. Want me to do it, or do you want to?)
(you could if u like, and maybe do Nyx and his final decision?)
(alright! Though Nyx can't actually make a decision until the pod is opened again, because he'll stay shut down, so maybe you should do it?)
Well, this is it. Jude hesitated. He rested his hands on the cold metal of the pod. He stepped back and inhaled deeply, repeating the words he'd said the day before.
"Begin system start-up. Launch cybernetic feedback. Optimize movement capacitor."
The pod opened up, and Nyx sat up again, blinking and pulling the wire from the back of his neck. He looked at Jude. "It's tomorrow." he realized, blinking slowly as his systems booted up and began working. "And you're back." he cocked his head a little, still watching Jude.
Jude leaned his hip on a desk covered in a thin layer of dusk.
"Yeah. I told you; I'd be here. So.. I'm here." He nodded. "Have you um- decided if you want me to help you? Or- If you'll help me with that- I guess." Jude asked, still feeling out of sorts from last night's sleep.
