Day 1: Kaia and co.'s first virtual reality stimulation sends our hero and heroine into a fanfiction classic: the Coffee Shop AU.
I hope the transition between the experiment part and the AU part isn't too jarring. It sort of had to be there to explain what the heck is happening, though I wish it didn't as it's super clunky. Also, the coffee shop here is called Caffeine Nation. As in, caffeination...yup, I'm an idiot. And as a heads-up, Rogue is referred to as Anna Marie here because she isn't a mutant in this reality (no powers) and thus would probably just be called by her given name. Enjoy!
An Acivian Laboratory Ship - Several Weeks Later
Kaia let out a long sigh of relief as her test subjects finally stopped twitching, the powerful anesthetic they'd given them finally kicking in. The two had been an absolute disaster to subdue and Kaia would be feeling the effects of her subjects' attempts to escape tomorrow. But for now, she had a stimulation to run.
"Remember the stipulations," Kaia reminded her team, clustered around the two cots in the center of the lab. "They are not to retain their powers, and each scenario will take place in a random geographical location. Take them out of their own realities, but do nothing to fundamentally change their personalities and inclinations." Her team nodded in silent obedience. Adjusting the transmitters on her subjects' foreheads one last time, she signaled for the virtual reality projection to begin.
The coffee shop, she'd learned in her extensive research, was somewhat of a center for socialization for Terrans, at least in the culture these two seemed to belong to. It seemed an ideal place to begin. She pressed play and allowed her designed stimulation to begin, watching through the cognitive projector she'd use to observe the subjects' behavior.
Virtual Reality: Caffeine Nation coffee shop – Sedona, AZ
Caffeine Nation was always the last stop on Remy's morning run. Conveniently located along his daily route, patronizing the coffee shop was so ingrained in his routine that most of the baristas knew him by name. He'd tip generously and flirt even more so, and there were a few who now looked forward to his daily visit. (Others decidedly did not; he chose to ignore them.) Invariably sweaty and out of breath, he looked forward to feeling the cool air conditioning pour out of the shop to greet him when he opened its doors. This day was no different. Or…he thought.
"Welcome to Caffeine Nation," an unfamiliar, tired, and distinctly southern voice– that was very odd in this part of the country – drawled from the counter. "What can I get for'y?" Remy approached the counter, a response on his tongue, and nearly froze.
The woman behind the counter was not among the baristas he knew by name. He'd never even seen this one, and he knew he would have remembered if he had. She was striking, to put it lightly. Her frizzy brown curls formed what looked (in his slightly ridiculous mind) a halo around her face, which Remy couldn't help but note was utterly adorable even with its obvious display of sleep deprivation. She looked incredibly unsatisfied with her current situation.
"You new around here?" Remy asked. "I come here every morning but I've never seen ya."
"Yes," the barista drawled. "I don't much want to be here, if I'm bein' honest, but yes. I am."
"Caffeine Nation's great. It'll win you over," Remy reassured her. He leaned his elbow against the counter and looked up at her with a wink. "Or if it don't, I will."
"Don't even try with me, pretty boy," the barista sighed. "Now tell me what kinda coffee you want or I'm gonna have to ask you to leave."
He relented, but that only convinced him more fervently to keep trying. He'd seen few people so in need of joy, and some strange emotional muscle he rarely exercised made him want to give it to her. He didn't even know her name, but…
Remy liked to think he knew a special person when he saw one.
He remembered to glance at her nametag as he left – Anna Marie,it read. He smiled. He'd remember that.
That afternoon, he came on his lunch break, crossing his fingers she'd be the one working the counter. He didn't usually visit more than once a day, but…it couldn't hurt, could it? "Afternoon, Anna Marie!" he crowed as soon as he burst through the doors. Sure enough, a telltale sigh met his words.
"Well, aren't you chipper," Anna Marie sighed. "How'd you know my name?"
"Nametag. And I always am when I, uh…get coffee from this place." It was the least creepy-sounding excuse he could come up with.
"It'd be great if you could get it less often," Anna Marie grumbled, probably assuming he didn't hear her. (He had.)
"You seem to hate everything," Remy commented. "What don't ya hate?"
Anna Marie gave him a hard look. "Customers who order their coffee and leave promptly. And only come in once a day."
"Oh, come on, cherie," he coaxed. "There's gotta be something you like."
Anna Marie's cheeks uncharacteristically reddened. "You speak French?" she mumbled, distracted.
Oh, this is good, Remy thought. "Mais sur bien, chére. Why, do you like it?"
"Uh…I mean…it's a nice language," Anna Marie stammered. "But that's all, really."
"Very nice," Remy agreed. "You know what else is nice?"
"You, learning to leave well enough alone?" she shot back. "I've heard about you, LeBeau, and while I know some'a my coworkers might not mind your flirtin' and loiterin', I most definitely do. So get your coffee and go. Away."
"Still think you should run with me sometime, but all right," Remy conceded. "Au revior, hérissonne.''
She didn't respond. Strike two. He'd have to keep trying.
It was absolutelyunheard-of for Remy to drink three caffe lattes in one day, but he was beginning to think that it might be the only way to keep finding excuses to see the fascinating woman he'd become acquainted with. He tried not to appear as overly caffeinated as he was, but it didn't work. Anna Marie looked even more exhausted when he caught her eye.
"I'm flattered that you're so obsessed with me, but ya need to stop," she sighed. "I don't want to flirt with you, and I know for a factyou don't need as much coffee as you're crammin' into yourself just for an excuse to see me. So can you just…not?"
Remy shrugged. "All right. But…I thought this place could use a little brightening up, non?" he handed her the red carnations he'd decided in a blaze of romantic insanity to buy her. "If you don't want to flirt, fine. Promise I'll stop. I just…don't like seeing such a fascinatin' lady so obviously unhappy."
Anna Marie blinked rapidly, caught off-guard by his sincerity. "I, uh…thank you," she replied, clutching the carnations to her chest like a shield. "That's sweet'f ya."
"If you want to run with me tomorrow, I could always use a workout partner," he told her. "If not? Fine. I can stop coming here. But I thought you might like it. Runner's high, chere…it's incredible."
"You know what? Sure," Anna Marie stammered, her face flushing. "I'll take you up on that. Why not?"
Remy smiled – not in flirtation, not in jest, simply in earnest. "I'm glad, hérissone," he told her.
"What's that supposed to mean?" she asked, leaning on her elbow against the countertop. "Some of us don't speak French, you know."
"Hedgehog," Remy told her, grinning unabashedly. "'Cause you're covered in spines, but adorable."
"Oh, please," she said, rolling her eyes.
Perhaps there was something to be said for flowers and hedgehogs, perhaps it was simply an inevitability – something about this boy made her clam up like a fifth-grader forgetting her lines in the school play.
Anna Marie liked to think she knew something special when she saw it, even if it took a moment to notice its specialness. But whatever the reason, she was looking forward to that run.
Back on the Acivian Laboratory Ship
"Thesubjects appear to be following the same patterns that led to their relationship in reality, Lieutenant."
"Yes, Girad, I can see that, thank you." Kaia continued scribbling frantically. "I wasn't expecting as much."
"Will tomorrow's stimulation be, perhaps, a bit less...convenient?"
"That can be arranged," Kaia replied. "I suppose if we want them to give us solid evidence for the existence of so-called 'soulmates,' we will have to be more...creative."
"And deal with that." A queasy-looking technician glanced fearfully at the cots.
Kaia's stomach clenched. The female was stirring and, before Kaia could even register the situation, she had one arm free of the restraints and an expression that could only be described as "sheer, concentrated rage."
"Is anyone plannin' on tellin' me what we're doin' here?" She shouted, still rather groggy.
Kaia backed up to a wall for protection. "I promise we can explain..."
