Chapter 4: The Woods
A few days later, Fox got a call from Falco.
"Hey Fox! How are you doing?"
"I'm doing alright. As usual, I guess." Fox made an exaggerated sigh to illustrate his point.
"Yeah, I know how you feel," Falco replied.
"Well, how are you?" Fox asked. "How are your parents?"
"I'm fine, they're fine. It has really been nice living with them again, really. I guess this was my fault but I think...I think we understand each other a lot more now."
"Good! That's good to hear, Falco."
"So, anyways, uh, wanna come over? It's been, like, at least a month since we saw each other after all. I was thinking we'd go over to the Research Institute and try to find Slippy too."
"Oh, that sounds like it could be a challenge."
"Maybe. Anyways, come on over! I'm waiting for you. Oh, but wear something...official-looking."
"Hah, alright then! I'll see you soon."
"See you!"
Fox hung up, changed into what little formal clothing he had, and rushed to the tram station. It really had been too long. Falco's house was in the financial district, in the literal center of the City: it was the central point if you drew a circle to encompass the City, and the average height of all the skyscrapers, at about a fourth of a kilometer above ground level. It was not a part of the city he would ordinarily otherwise visit, in fact.
Thankfully the tram was not backed up that day, and it slid through the shimmering diamond towers, holographic ads, and occasional artificial parkland right on schedule, depositing him at a small park on the roof of the Central Bank. Falco's house was on the same level in the adjacent tower.
Falco was actually waiting for him outside the front door.
"Fox!" he cried, running over to embrace his friend. Fox couldn't match Falco's wings for sheer envelopment, but he tried to give a firm hug back.
"Man, is it good to see you. You know, I've been doing better, actually. My nightmares are starting to go away."
"That's great, Falco! I'm glad you're feeling well." Fox said enthusiastically. He was glad at least one of them had their heads on mostly straight.
"Yeah, me too. I was even thinking about trying to apply for flight registrations again. I know we haven't had any luck since the Council took over, but maybe if we keep trying..."
Fox chuckled. "Still, Falco? They shot us down five times already."
"So? They'll come around eventually. And then once we're in the air again, it'll all be better. I'm sure of it."
Fox smiled at his friend. Once, this sort of blind confidence had annoyed him, but now he was grateful.
Falco finally opened the front door and led Fox in. His parents were standing in the welcome room to meet them.
"Hello, Mr. Lombardi, Mrs. Lombardi," Fox said, bowing. They bowed in return.
"Please, you can call us by our first names," Falco's mother Jane insisted.
"Yes, of course. You're an adult now," his father Eric agreed.
"Okay, sorry," Fox said.
"No matter," Eric assured. "Make yourself comfortable. We made some food if you want."
"Oh, thank you, that's very kind of you," Fox said, even as Jane guided him into the kitchen, where an excessive amount of food was already laid out to eat.
"Try to relax, please," Jane said. "We'll uh, let you and Falco talk, but we'll be out on the balcony if you need anything."
"Thank you so much," Fox replied, bowing, feeling like he was eight years old again and coming over to Falco's house for the first time.
Falco grabbed a few meat kebabs from the kitchen table and sat on the couch. He patted the seat next to him for Fox.
Fox looked over the food, selecting a plate of biscuits and a stack of napkins for both himself and Falco.
"I forgot how shy your parents are," Fox remarked, sitting down next to his avian companion.
"Yeah. It was jarring for me, coming back," Falco said. "I mean, you all put up with me pretty well on the Great Fox. Didn't stay cooped up in your rooms, I mean."
Fox snickered. "Hehe, thanks, I think. I thought you said you were getting along better, though."
"Oh, we are," Falco responded. "They're always there to help me with my nightmares. I don't know what I'd do otherwise."
"That's good," Fox said, leaning back and taking in the decorations.
Falco gave Fox a concerned look. "You know, Fox, I really don't think it's good for you to be living alone like you are. I know that Slippy and I aren't exactly in great shape either, but come on! You deserve so much better than this! You are always wecome here if you want. I've always said that."
Fox smiled a bit. It was probably true, but he didn't want to give up his independence, however pathetic it may be. "I appreciate it, I really do, but I'm more comfortable alone right now."
"Okay, I'll take your word for it," Falco assented.
"So, why didn't you just invite Slippy here too?"
"I wanted to, but I couldn't contact her. She hasn't returned any calls in the past two days. Eventually I called Beltino, and he said that Slippy has been working in the lab nonstop. He asked us to find him, and he would give us clearances to get in."
"And what then?"
"We drag him out and get him some fresh air, of course!"
"Uh, huh."
Falco finished his kebabs and stood up. "So, ready to go?"
Fox stood up in turn. "Ready as ever."
Falco went over to the balcony for a moment. "Mom, Dad, Fox and I are going out to try to get Slippy!"
"Good luck, then! See if you can get him to come over for dinner!"
"Will do!"
Falco came back to Fox and nearly dragged him out the door. "Come on! Let's get to the car."
"The car?" Fox asked, surprised. Private cars were expensive.
"It's just a rental, of course. Do you wanna drive, Fox?"
Falco held the keys out in his hand. It was tempting, very tempting, but Fox knew he was out of practice.
"No, it's okay, you drive. Thanks though."
"Sure thing."
It was a pleasure to see Falco drive, Fox realized as his friend turned the car on, and it rose slowly above the parking strip. He pulled the wheel back and it shot off smoothly and quietly into the air.
Falco looped a few times around his residential tower, then took them down into the lower-level corridors meant for small volumes of traffic. Fox could tell that Falco was trying to be relaxed, but he couldn't help but drive the car like an Arwing, with a directness and aggression that usually did not suit car-driving very well.
The Space Dynamics Research Institute wasn't much to look at. In fact, most of it was underground, at the edge of the City. The only structures that poked above the ground were the parking garages and a bewildering assemblage of
Falco slid them into the last slot of the visitor's parking strip, which to their surprised was mostly full.
Fox and Falco spotted Beltino in the main lobby immediately, though he seemed to be swamped by a group of eager-looking reporters and officials.
"Fox! Falco!" he bellowed, swatting away the previously-enraptured reporters with a wave of his long arm.
"It's great to see you two!" he continued, enveloping them both in a mighty hug.
"I've been meaning to contact you. Slippy's been here, doing wonderful work, but I keep telling him to take a break and he just won't listen. Maybe you two can talk some sense into him."
"Well, that's why we're here," Falco replied, trying to hide his embarrassment.
"Excellent! Well, he's in the Neutrino Lab right now. They're running an experiment but it should be done within the hour. Maybe you can ambush him then."
"Sounds good," Fox said.
"Good! Go on then, I've got to get back to these reporters. Here's your visitor cards."
"Uh, yes! Will do!" Falco affirmed.
"Good! I expect to see my son in the flesh sometime today!"
"Yes, sir!" Fox said, saluting and running off to join Falco as he started walking through the long, white, creepily clean corridors of the Institute. Figures of all shapes, sizes, and species would pass them from time to time, all wearing the same serious expressions, all wearing the same yellow lab coats.
"I never liked this place. I don't know how Slippy does it," Falco grumbled to himself as he grabbed Fox, having spotted a map on the wall.
They looked at the map and nodded wordlessly to each other once they had discerned the Neutrino Lab's position.
As it turned out, it was the deepest room in the entire structure, taking up its own small floor a full half kilometer below ground level. Fox had sometimes accompanied Slippy to the Institute in the past, but he had never been there before.
"Here, this way," Fox said, grabbing Falco now as if in return. "I almost forgot, but there's a service elevator this way that goes directly down. Slippy gave me the code a while ago."
A few minutes later, the friends stepped into the Neutrino Lab. It was kept cold and dark, and it was strangely damp. There was a hallway with small windows that ran around the Lab itself where one could observe the instruments inside, accelerators and detectors and machines whose purposes Fox and Falco could only guess at. They walked around the hallway slowly, trying to identify Slippy among the several hooded figures in the main room. However, this proved harder than they had expected.
Fox made a complete loop around the corridor, finally stopping at a nondescript door and beckoning Falco to join him.
"What is this?" Falco asked.
"It's the bathroom. He'll have to use it eventually."
"Oh. Of course."
As if on cue, a figure emerged from the decontamination room wearing plain shorts and an old stained shirt. The figure rushed over to the bathroom, ignoring the fox and pheasant entirely.
A few minutes later, it emerged again, and Fox put out his leg to trip him.
"Ah!" he yelled, almost out of synch with his own reactions, and stumbled to the other wall.
"Fox! Falco! What are you doing here?"
"Slippy, you moron! Look at yourself! We're here to make you take a break," Falco retorted, genuinely distressed at the state of his friend. Slippy's eyes were bleary and sunken, and his skin seemed somehow thinner than it normally was.
"Thanks but no need, Falco. Can't you see I'm busy? It's an important project too."
"Well, what is it? You've never bothered to tell us," Fox asked, trying to be a bit more even in tone than Falco.
Slippy huffed.
"You're right. Sorry. Better G-diffusers. That's what I'm working on. I've got three people to help me too. But it's so complicated. Our current diffusers rely on electroweak unification, which is well understood, but kind of a kludge since it requires such high temperatures. I'm trying to go at it more directly by just flipping the flavors of neutrinos that already exist in space. The mathematicians say it's possible, but we just can't get the precision we need to-"
Falco walked over and gently placed a hand over the frog's mouth. "Slippy, I didn't understand any of that. I'm sure it's amazing and all, but it's not more important than your own health. Please. Stop working for a while and come with us. Get some fresh air."
Slippy pushed Falco's hand away. "Fine. I know I can't get away from you two now. I never got why you pretend to not understand this stuff, Falco. We both took the same physics classes, after all."
"There's a difference between knowing and caring," Falco insisted. "And right now, I care about you more than some numbers and squiggly symbols."
Slippy's eyes turned over to Fox. "You know he's right," he said simply.
Slippy looked at his shirt. "Actually, what's the date?"
"It's the 20th," Fox answered.
"Of Caelus, right?"
"Yes, it's still Caelus."
"Phwew. Okay."
"Um, how long have you been down here then?" Fox asked.
Slippy picked at a stain on his shirt. "Five days, then."
"Five days! Okay, we are changing that right now!" Falco bellowed, hoisting Slippy on his shoulder and running as quickly as he could to the elevator. Slippy put on a show of protesting but didn't put any real feeling into it. "Wait, my assistants! I need to show them how to set up the wave detector!"
"Too bad," Fox said, trying not chuckle as he watched Slippy wriggle while captured in Falco's arms. It really was quite a sight.
Falco put Slippy down in the elevator, and he made no further complaint as they made their way back to the main lobby. Beltino was still there.
"Slippy!" He yelled immediately as the reunited trio got to the lobby, enveloping his son in a tight hug. Slippy, though rather smaller, tried to return the hug in equal measure.
"I missed you! You were down there for five days," Beltino noted.
"I know, Dad. I'm sorry. It's just the G-diffuser is..."
"I understand, Slippy. But try to take care of yourself. Go have some fun with your friends."
"Alright."
"Good!" Beltino bellowed, releasing his son, who stumbled almost perfectly into Falco's arms.
The amphibian and the avian disentanged themselves as Fox looked on with a smirk, and the other two smiled back sheepishly.
"Well, is there anything you want to do, Slippy? Anything at all?" Fox asked.
"Hmm..." Slippy's eyes wandered as he considered the question, far more deeply perhaps than Fox had intended.
"Actually, I want to go to the park. Remember the little one with the cold spring, and..."
"Say no more!" Fox declared. He and Falco began sprinting back to the car. Slippy jogged behind them.
Just a few minutes later, the three were sitting down on a wooden bench, with their shoes off and legs dangling into a small, cold stream.
Fox was whistling to himself, and Falco drummed along with his fists on the bridge to keep the rhythm. Slippy lapped leisurely at the ice cream that Falco had bought him.
"So, Slippy, why G-diffusers?" Fox asked. "What made you decide to work on that?"
Slippy cleared his throat and attempted to remove the ice cream from his lips. "You should know this, Fox. G-diffusers are pretty unreliable. They're still the most complicated single subsystem in an Arwing. Over 20,000 individual parts. The entire rest of an Arwing only has 50,000. You know, 10% of all casualties during the Lylat Wars could be traced back to a faulty G-diffuser."
Ten percent? That was a lot indeed, Fox realized, whistling a rising tone in understanding. He couldn't believe he had never thought about something like that before. Amazing how much he didn't know about the war he had fought in.
"Yeah, it was bad," Slippy continued. "I had actually suggested looking into this before the War, but nobody did. They said it would be too risky to change right then. But imagine how many lives we could have saved. And it's my fault!" Slippy whimpered.
"Slippy, you can't think about it like that," Fox argued. "This is not-this is not your burden. You don't have to work yourself to death now thinking about that."
"What about the soldiers? Those people actually died!"
"I know, but that wasn't your fault. I swear. It wasn't. That was...that's just how war is."
"I'm still not happy about it," Slippy replied.
"I know, Slippy. Me neither. I'm not happy about any of this," Fox whispered.
Slippy patted Fox's shoulder. "Oh, Fox, I'm sorry. I shouldn't be so angry. You have it the worst of us."
"No point in comparing like that," Fox said.
"I'm just glad we're all back together again. Here on Corneria," Falco interjected.
"Yeah," said Slippy.
"Me too," said Fox.
They stayed on the bridge for a few more hours, watching Lylat fall below the sky before heading back to Falco's house.
