Chapter 6
Back in the complex lobby, Isaac wrapped things up with the superintendent while Ellie headed back outside. Just out front of the building, she paused to examine the barren patches of hydroponic growing medium that had been arranged in between the walkways, which apparently had once been home to a small rose garden. Rendered into fossils by long-standing neglect, the remnants of broken rosebush stalks reached upward from the medium in sparse, gnarled clusters. While there was nothing remarkable about it on the surface, the bleak arrangement of dead shrubbery triggered a memory she had of the necromorphs as they screamed and grabbed for her, their twisted, tortured bodies forced into the same poses.
Death. It seemed to be catching on.
Isaac trailed out the door moments behind her, and hearing his approach she turned to him.
"So, where you want to go?"
He tucked his hands into his pockets, and started to walk alongside her.
"Someplace quiet."
They passed the towers and on through the square, eying various restaurants and walk-up windows along the way. It was early evening and the establishments were all crowded with people, which Isaac wasn't particularly pleased with. They kept scanning each place they passed, until Ellie saw a small, Vietnamese restaurant, off the main path and out of the way of traffic. It appeared to be devoid of much activity, so she pointed it out.
"How about there? You like Vietnamese?"
"Sure. Let's check it out."
They headed up and into the establishment, which was an old, cramped kitchen and dining area, overly decorated with various cultural knick-knacks and strung lights. The ambiance was generally dim, and there weren't many patrons present. As they looked around, Isaac observed a small booth toward the back which was overshadowed by poor overhead lighting, and away from where anyone else was sitting.
"Let's take that one, back there."
They crossed the room and approached the booth, sliding into the seats opposite each other. The table had a holographic counter top which displayed the various menu items available, and the two of them took a moment to review it as they settled in. He didn't say anything, but Isaac was overwhelmed by the menagerie of sample images and floating blocks of text, and his eyes just shot around the table in a desperate attempt to reconcile what was an imperceptible blob of blinding holographic imagery. He reached up and rubbed his eyes as his vision blurred, and Ellie glanced up at him with concern.
"You sure you're alright?"
He looked up at her.
"Yeah. Why do you keep asking me that?"
She recoiled a little.
"Sorry. You've just been acting a little strange. I hope you're feeling okay, that's all."
"No, I'm sorry. I'm just, uh, trying to adjust. This is all a lot to take in. I wasn't expecting it."
Each statement he made drove Ellie further to learn about him. With no knowledge of the torturous, isolating existence he had faced aboard the Sprawl, it baffled to wonder what could have happened to make returning to a normal life such a trying experience - especially when she herself was having no such difficulty readjusting in spite of her own set of trials. She just looked at him, until a young man with oily black hair and a mousy, pale complexion approached the table.
"Hi there, can I get you folks something to start you off?"
Isaac shot his head up at the waiter's approach, as if having been caught by surprise.
"Oh - I uh, I -"
He looked at Ellie, who then looked up to the waiter.
"I'll just have a draft beer, and some water."
"We've got SUN on tap right now, that okay?"
Ellie nodded, and the waiter turned to Isaac. Still feeling indecisive, Isaac just went with it.
"Yeah, I'll have one of those, too."
The waiter beamed a fragile, porcelain smile.
"You got it. I'll be right back with those, and give you a few minutes to decide on what you want."
The waiter bowed slightly and whisked off through the room, and in the wake of his absence Ellie and Isaac just smiled at each other. The faint incandescent bulb suspended above the table filled the area with a curtain of warm glow, perfectly framing Ellie right in its center like a spotlight designed just for her. To Isaac, it only seemed to further illuminate her beauty, and the longer he looked at her, the more difficult he found it to turn away. He knew it was only going to get harder from here.
"Man, I can tell the doctor did a good job. I bet your eye feels good now, huh?"
She shook her head up and down with a juvenile enthusiasm.
"Yeah. It already feels like, a million times better. I really thought it was okay before, but compared to the way it feels now... wow. What a difference. Thank you again, Isaac. I can't imagine what I would have done without you."
"My pleasure. I'm really happy you decided to do it. Once the patch comes off, it's gonna be beautiful."
His expression filled with a genuine happiness that set Ellie to blushing. She didn't know what to say, inwardly wrestling between her wanting to just open up completely to him, and the need to comply with what she sensed was his desire to keep a distance. She was secretly thankful when the waiter came back to the table, giving her reprieve from having to come up with a response. The waiter placed two glasses filled with amber colored pilsner beer, two additional empty glasses, and a pitcher of ice water on the table.
"So, you folks decide what you want? Or you need a few more minutes?"
With his elbow on the table Isaac leaned into his hand, still battling it out with indecision.
"You got any specials?"
The waiter's expression lit up and he nodded, pointing to some menu items that were outlined in the bottom corner of the holoscreen.
"Today we've got Bò Nhúng Dắm - that's beef dipped in vinegar. We've also got Chạo Tôm, grilled sugarcane shrimp with steamed -"
Feeling too impatient to listen to the entire rollout, Isaac cut him off with a wave of his hand.
"You know what? It doesn't really matter, just bring me something you have that's vegetarian."
Ellie looked up from the table menu and raised a teasing eyebrow at him.
"You've got to be joking. I would have never pegged you for a vegetarian."
Isaac glanced up at her and shook his head, appearing a little solemn and distant.
"I'm not, usually. I just, don't really want to look at dead meat right now. I've seen enough to last me for the rest of my life."
She considered his statement, then bit her lip. Certainly, she agreed that they had both seen more than their fair share.
"Hmm... you make a good point."
She looked up at the waiter.
"You know, I'll have what he's having."
The waiter nodded with servile platitude and then scuttled away without a word, leaving them alone. They both sat there for a moment, once again finding themselves at odds with words, and Ellie started fidgeting with her glass to ease the tension. Isaac watched her quietly, observing her trepid posture, then raised his own glass.
"Well, here's to you, Ellie. You are one tough bird, I'll tell you that. Smart as they come."
Tickled by his flattery, she joined him in toast.
"And here's to you. For surviving all that shit with me. And for being a super badass."
Sharing a laugh, they clinked their glasses and took a drink. When they put their glasses back down, Isaac examined her again, this time with a sense of purpose.
"So. Ellie Langford. Let's talk about you."
"Huh? What about me?"
A musing grin formed upon his face.
"'Ellie'. That's short for Elizabeth, right?"
She looked up from the glass between her hands.
"Umm, no, actually."
"It isn't? What's it short for?"
She shrugged as she took another sip.
"It isn't short for anything. My name is 'Elleigh' - E-L-L-E-I-G-H. It's pronounced ell-AY, actually. But, other people always assume it's 'Ellie'. I just roll with it."
"Really?"
"Yeah. It's like, Old French or something."
Isaac nodded, looking rather thoughtful.
"Hmm. Interesting. Well then, what's next?"
She bent an eyebrow.
"As in...?"
"As in, what are your plans? Where do you go from here?"
She wasn't looking forward to breaching this subject, but knew it would inevitably come to pass.
"I told you I haven't really thought about it."
He looked at her a little more seriously.
"Don't you think you should?"
"I don't know, I was probably going to stay at Alan's for a few days. Or until I figure out what I'm going to do."
"You aren't going back to Earth?"
"I wasn't planning on it, no."
Isaac took another drink from his glass and leaned forward, planting his elbows on the table.
"Why not? Don't you have anything to go back to?"
Ellie just continued to stare down into her hands.
"Nope."
"Where do you call home, then?"
"No place, for a while now. I left Earth when I was 26, I started my first gig with the CEC as a contractor. Then I moved into full-time, and worked on dispatch ever since. I guess you could say since I was last working there that the Sprawl was my home, but now it's gone."
Isaac rubbed his chin.
"So, no family, or anything like that?"
She widened her eye with a look of incredulity, laughed, then took a drink.
"Are you kidding me? I don't have time for a family of my own. No siblings... my dad died a few years back, and my mom still lives back home in the European Republic. But I haven't talked to her in years."
Isaac lowered his eyes to the glass between his hands, intrigued by some of the similarities their histories shared.
"No... significant other?"
She shook her head.
"No. Never stuck around anyplace long enough to establish something meaningful with anybody."
While he didn't make it obvious, Isaac was somewhat disappointed to hear all of this. Part of him had been hoping she would have had some attachment to lure her away, something that would help make his task a little less difficult.
"So, if you're not going back to Earth, what are you gonna do?"
She smiled, reassuringly.
"Don't worry about me. I'll find my way. I always have."
Like him, Ellie kept her responses placid and indifferent, but inside her heart was burning. She knew exactly what she wanted to do, what she wanted to say, but not wanting to be the first to throw out the glaring suggestion, she tried to pick his brain and get him to say it.
"I can't help but feel like you're grilling me. If I didn't know any better, I'd think that you actually have something to say."
Isaac slowly closed his eyes, trying to remain prudent.
"It's not my place to tell you what to do. But..."
Ellie sat forward, her mind beginning to race.
Ask me to stay here with you, Isaac. Just say the words.
After a moment, he opened his eyes and looked at her.
"... I think you should leave. Leave as soon as you can, and get as far away from here as possible. These people have no reason to be interested in you. You're not their target. If you get away now, you'll be safe. And you can go live your life. You deserve a nice life after all this, Ellie."
She froze like glass, her heart sank, and she suddenly lost her appetite.
"... Oh. You, really think so?"
Isaac gave no indication he had noticed the paling expression upon her face.
"Look, as long as you're with me, you're not safe. I don't want to see you get hurt. You've been too kind to me. You have to go."
Ellie's chest felt tight, and her breath hastened quietly. Overwhelmed and confused as she was, she decided not to say anything that might further her vulnerability.
"... Maybe you're right. I don't really have a reason to stay here anyway, so... you're probably right."
Isaac just looked down. Before he could think of something to reply with the waiter returned, holding two large, steaming bowls in his hands. He placed one in front of each of them, then stepped back.
"Our vegetarian dish today is fresh Bun Cha Gio Chay. Please, enjoy. Is there anything else I can get for you?"
They both shook their heads, and as the waiter slipped away, looked down at their plates. By this point neither one felt very hungry any more but they made a valiant effort to try anyway, picking gingerly at their plates, pulling out small morsels here and there. Almost on the verge of tears Ellie hung her head, she closed her eyes and took a moment to compose herself. When she looked up, she saw that Isaac had started eating his food with a little more enthusiasm, now utilizing his fork to forage around his plate. It relieved her to at least see he was starting to come around, which encouraged her own appetite to return and she eventually joined him. They both ate in silence for a few minutes before Ellie finally broke the intermission again, seeking to open up a new subject that she hoped would be a little less heartrending.
"So, we've talked about me... Now, it's your turn. What's your story, Isaac? How did a man like you end up here?"
"My story? I don't even know where to start."
"How about the beginning?"
"The beginning?... ok."
He put the fork down upon the plate and brought his hands up before him, taking a moment to find a way to break it to her as lightly as possible.
"Umm... Once upon a time, there was a very stupid man named Isaac Clarke. Despite being an accomplished and self-proclaimed genius, Isaac had no common sense whatsoever and wasn't very good at knowing what was in his best interest - so he made a lot of very bad mistakes. One of these mistakes was when he unwittingly volunteered for a career-destroying job assignment that proceeded to ruin his entire life. The end."
Ellie tried not to smile as he concluded by dropping his hands upon the table. While he was rather amusing in his way of telling it, to her it felt inappropriate to laugh at what sounded like the prelude to an epic of misfortune.
"You're talking about the Ishimura, I assume?"
Isaac took another drink of his beer, noting he was near the bottom and ready for another. By this point he was beginning to feel it - the ties on his fears, his inhibitions, and his lips just barely beginning to loosen, the screaming voices inside his head finally drowned out by the overcast of intoxication. As memories of the Ishimura came to him he sought to describe them for Ellie, which was an act of pure, heartfelt confession that just an hour ago would have been impossible to do.
"... Yes. I went to deal with the communications blackout."
When he said this, Ellie pulled her head back with astonishment.
"Oh my god. You were part of the Kellion crew?"
Surprised by her knowledge, he cocked his head.
"You know about that?"
She blinked her eyes and shook her head with total disbelief.
"Where have you been, under a rock? It was the biggest thing around every CEC branch! Everybody was talking about what happened... I mean, everyone but the CEC, that is."
"What do you mean?"
She shrugged.
"Well, the CEC only addressed the 'official' information that EarthGov released. The attack on the Ishimura and some mining colony, about 2,400 people lost. Other than that, the CEC pretty much went dark. They didn't even mention what happened to the Kellion until months afterward, after news spread about some wrongful death suit over one of the missing crew members. They never even told us their names, but obviously people drew conclusions when some employees went missing."
Isaac sat forward, astonished by what he was hearing.
"Wait a minute, back up... attack? What attack?"
Ellie tilted her head curiously.
"The terrorists. They said it was a terrorist attack."
Isaac suddenly remembered back on the Sprawl when Ellie had first told him of the CEC's misleading information, and it started to drive up very angry feelings. He finished off the last of the beer in his glass with annoyance.
"... Terrorist attack?"
Ellie eyed his body language.
"You seem upset by that."
He leaned back with a dark, vengeful smirk on his face.
"They lied about it. They fucking lied about it. They just covered up that whole fucking disaster?... Nice. Real nice."
The longer he ruminated on it, the angrier Isaac became. He shifted in his seat, refusing to make eye contact with her. Starting to feel sorry for bringing it up, Ellie tried to diffuse him with a compassionate smile.
"It's ok."
"Ellie, you don't get it... it was the same..."
His words fell short, barely able to process in his mind all of the inherent repercussions of what he was coming to realize.
"So... what does that mean, Ellie? Is there anyone out there who knows what happened to me? Or did I just cease to exist? Just another statistic? I mean - what's left of my life? What the fuck just happened to the past forty years of my life?"
His eyes darkened, and vitriol of his feelings rose until he finally released it with an angry pounding of his fist on the table. Ellie went a little wide-eyed at his reaction.
"Jeez, calm down."
Isaac pulled his hand back, and looked around to see if anyone had taken notice. Not a soul was looking their way, and lowering his voice he ran a nervous hand across his head.
"Sorry. But my whole life has just become meaningless."
"Your life is not meaningless, Isaac. It's just changed, that's all. If it makes you feel any better, I'm in the same boat."
He looked up at her with an expression that borderlined condescending.
"I highly doubt that."
They shared a long, awkward moment as Ellie shrank back, starting to feel it was pointless to try to get him to see the lighter side of his situation for now. As if by providence, the waiter again passed by their table, affording her the opportunity to take cover. Seeing both of their glasses were empty, she called him over.
"Hey, can we get another round over here, please?"
The waiter acknowledged her with a hand gesture then swept on past, quickly moving on to a few other tables before proceeding back to the bar. Ellie's gaze dropped to the table, and the more it sunk in about what Isaac had just said, the more she began to regret having cracked the joke about him being under a rock.
"... You were really gone for all those years... weren't you?"
He didn't answer her, just stared down at his empty glass until she was prompted to ask a different question.
"So, what did really happen?"
She at first expected he might not want to keep talking about it, but after a moment of holding a tight-lipped scowl, he surprised her with a response.
"The same exact thing we just went through, Ellie. The same exact thing. And that mining colony was an illegal operation on a restricted planet. They should have never been there in the first place."
Ellie blinked.
"So, what happened there?"
"The Marker happened, that's what. That's why all of this started. All of it. When they cracked that planet, they found the Marker, which was already there. And then they were stupid enough to bring it up on the goddamn ship. You believe these ignorant fucks?"
Ellie couldn't help but to start taking a keen interest in the discussion.
"So, you know for certain that this whole necromorph thing is in fact connected to the Marker?"
"Yes. The Marker is where the signal comes from - the signal that triggers the dementia, and the transformation."
She narrowed her stare.
"How do you know all of this?"
He shook his head, a little dejectedly.
"I don't really know much about it. Just, experience, I guess. And what other people have told me, here and there."
"So, what happened when you got to the Ishimura?"
"Our ship crashed when we first arrived, because there was no power to the landing grid. So, we were stranded. We had to get the systems back up and running on the Ishimura so we could at least radio back home. But, the whole ship was fucked - someone tried to sabotage it. We spent the better part of two days just trying to get the fucking ship running again. And we had to deal with those goddamn creatures the entire time."
Ellie was simply floored.
"Two days? Shit. We weren't on the Sprawl for even a whole day. I can't imagine two... I can't believe you survived."
"I can't believe it, either."
Her expanded stare of intrigue was disrupted by the waiter's hand as he slipped in and deposited two more glasses of beer on the table in front of them, then scurried off again. She grabbed her glass, unable to take her eyes off of Isaac.
"So, did you ever touch base?"
With a twisted smirk he leaned on his hand and shook his head, taking a few more bites from his plate.
"No. But I found a way off and down to the colony... and that's where shit really got deep."
She looked at him oddly.
"But, why would you go down there, knowing that's where the outbreak started? Why didn't you just get the hell out of there?"
He thought about it for a moment. While he was wanting to be truthful in delineating the facts, he wasn't yet ready to divulge the whole truth about what actually had compelled him to go to the Colony and complete the Marker's bond. Those memories of Nicole were his to know, and his alone.
"I had to do something. I couldn't just leave the Marker there on the ship... So, I uhh, I tried returning it to where it belonged. I thought, maybe it would fix it."
"Did it?"
"No. Destroyed the planet, actually."
"What?"
Seeing the surprise on her face, Isaac sneered.
"Hmm. I guess the CEC and EarthGov covered that part up too."
Ellie shook her head, a little apologetically.
"All I can tell you is that I've never heard anything like that. They did say that the Ishimura was found somewhere in Cygnus space, but that it could have been moved to that location after... whatever happened happened. But if what you're telling me is that they were actually involved in illegal mining... and all that Marker shit... then, that's really serious. No wonder they lied about it."
As she thought about it, she couldn't help but chuckle under her breath.
"And no wonder you're worried EarthGov is after you. You pretty much just blew their whole operation wide open. And what happened to the Sprawl? They must be absolutely crazy about you, Isaac."
He smirked angrily.
"I can only hope."
She laughed.
"Wow, a planet. That's hardcore. I wouldn't want to piss you off."
He held up his hands accusingly.
"Hey it wasn't intentional, I swear. I had some issues while I was down there... power to the Ishimura's gravity tethers got cut off, and... well, shit went down after the cork came loose."
She was trying to keep up with him, but every detail of his outlandish tale was causing her head to spin.
"Sounds like quite an adventure... makes what I went through seem like vanilla."
"They both had their moments. Besides, the second time around turned out to have a much better ending."
He smiled, an act that finally broke what felt like a decade of tension between them. Encouraged, Ellie cloned the friendly gesture.
"Yeah, I think I'll have to take your word on that. So, what made you volunteer for the mission in the first place? You just a good Samaritan, or what?"
Approaching the very apex of his mistake, Isaac rolled his eyes and took another drink of his beer, trying to drown out the impact of the memory.
"I was in love. I was trying to be a hero, I guess."
By now Ellie was also well into feeling the onset of inebriation, and getting bold enough to engage him more openly about his past. She raised her eyebrows and leaned forward with a large, teasing grin.
"Ohhh, the plot thickens. You did it for a girl."
"You could say that. She was stationed on the Ishimura when the outbreak happened."
Her charming smile flatlined.
"Oh... wow."
"I just wanted to make sure that she was okay. I didn't find out until I got there that she had killed herself."
"What?"
"She had already committed suicide before I got there. I guess she couldn't handle it."
Ellie's eyes drifted back down to the glass in her hand.
"... I'm guessing that's who Nicole is. You've mentioned her before."
The sound of her name struck a painful chord in Isaac's heart, and his gaze fell right through the table.
"I wish I could take it all back. It was my fault... I encouraged her to take the job. She was there because of me."
Sympathetic as she was to Nicole's plight, Ellie didn't like to see Isaac burdening himself with such guilt over his lover's demise, especially since she saw it as more as a personal choice Nicole had made not to fight, not to see it through to the end like Isaac had. Or like Ellie herself had, for that matter. She hardened her stare at him across the table.
"It's not your fault, Isaac. None of this is your fault. You did everything you could, you even went at your own peril to rescue her... I don't know another soul anywhere in the universe whom I can say that about. Even if it didn't turn out the way you wanted it to, you did everything right, that's all that matters. Nicole made her own choices. Don't you dare go blaming yourself for what happened."
Isaac glanced back up at her, somewhat surprised but enlightened by her words.
"Yeah. I suppose. There is a small part of me that feels, maybe it all turned out for the best, when I think about it."
"How do you mean?"
He paused for a moment.
"If Nicole had survived with me, then they would have put her through what they did to me, and to Stross, and the others... no question. And even if she would have somehow made it the whole three years there without going out of her mind, there's no way in hell she would have survived what came after that. She would have been dead in five minutes. She proved it to me."
He paused, making an earnest attempt to maintain his composure.
"She was a great girl. But... she wasn't like you. She just didn't have that fight in her. So, in a way, what happened there... she was spared. The reality is that she's been dead for three years, but because I lost all that time, it feels like yesterday to me. I haven't even had the chance to grieve for five minutes. I don't know if I could, anymore. It's like I, I jumped right over the denial, anger, bargaining and depression... and shot straight to numb. And, that's that."
Ellie just stared back at him, finding meaningful words difficult.
"... I'm sorry, Isaac."
He just shook his head with a dismissive smile, desperate to show he could take it all in stride. Disturbing as Nicole's story was for the both of them, Ellie was eager to depart the subject.
"So... I have to ask you, what exactly... were you and Nolan doing on the Sprawl?"
Staring down into his glass, Isaac spoke openly.
"We were test subjects. We, and about six other people, I think. I don't remember, they all died anyway. We were survivors they had found after the whole... thing. Most of them came from the Aegis7 colony. I think Nolan was one of them."
"Test subjects? Testing what?"
"The purpose of the Marker signal. The thing we all shared in common was that we all had been imprinted with the Marker's signal. Each of us was broadcasting it - which the scientists were convinced were some kind of Codes."
She looked puzzled.
"Codes?"
"That's what they called it - like, instruction sets. For building new Markers. Apparently, that's how they built the Marker that was on the Sprawl."
"So, they found a way to build these things?"
"Yes. Through these Codes."
Her expression still appeared to bear some naivety, so Isaac reached for a napkin and looked around the table.
"Give me a pen. You have a pen?"
Ellie looked at him queerly, then reached into the left thigh pocket of her tan colored cargo pants. Pulling out a small pen, she handed it to him.
"Here you go."
Isaac took the pen from her hand, then began feverishly scribbling something down on the napkin. Ellie tried to reconcile it in her mind while looking at the drawing upside down, which it appeared to be a long string of numbers and letters, intertwined with characters she didn't understand. She watched the intent stare on his face as he scribbled a line that reached all the way from one end of the napkin to the other. Then he stopped, rotated the napkin so it appeared right-side up in her eyes, and slid it toward her.
"Do you have any idea what this is?"
Ellie glanced at it, unable to recognize most of it save for a few familiar notations.
"I'm no expert, but I'd say it looks like... a mathematical equation?"
Isaac nodded.
"Yes. But do you know what it means?"
"No, can't say that I do. This is beyond me."
"Well, neither do I. But I can't stop thinking about it."
He folded the napkin up and tossed it into one of the empty glasses sitting on the table.
"That's what the scientists were after. It's why they kept us there. They had this... Machine, that could extract the Codes through the optical nerve."
Ellie glanced at his right eye, the center of which was still conspicuous by its much darker color when compared to his left.
"Is that what happened to your eye?"
He glossed right over her question as he emptied his glass, and jumped to another subject.
"Hey, since you're probably not going to be around for too long, I think we should celebrate. Don't you?"
Ellie blinked her eye, caught off guard by the sudden shift in his demeanor. She was thoroughly intrigued by Isaac's situation and she wanted to learn more about it, so she felt slightly dismayed to understand he didn't feel the inclination to indulge her further. Still, she had to give him credit for opening up as far as he had.
"Celebrate? I thought that's what we were doing."
"No, we were just having dinner, and talking about unpleasant things. I was thinking we could stop at the store, grab a few more beers... and just hang out for a little while. Get to know each other like ordinary folks. None of this Marker talk, or who we had to be while fighting to survive. Just regular conversation between two average people. What do you say?"
She bent an eyebrow at him.
"You mean, back at your place?"
"Well, yeah. I figure it's a long way back to Alan's, and it is getting late, so..."
"But don't you have to get the rest of your stuff?"
He shrugged.
"What stuff? I have everything... just left my plasma cutter there, but he can have it."
Though she fought to suppress it, a tiny smile began to creep across her lips.
"Isaac, are you asking me to spend the night?"
He gave her a funny look.
"Ellie, look. I have no expectations. If you prefer to go back to Alan's, just say the word and I'll be more than happy to walk you back. All I'm saying is that I'd like to get to know you better before you just... disappear out of my life."
Considering his offer, Ellie nodded.
"Alright. What harm can come of it, right?"
With that she finished her own beer in one last chug, and took a few more bites of her food. Then reaching into her pocket, pulled out one of her credit cards and placed it on the table to pay the bill.
"Now, I got this one, Isaac. Seriously."