My apologies for taking so long to update this. Enjoy!
MJ was laying awake in her bed. For a while, she had stayed awake with two things on her mind. First, Peter had turned out to be Spiderman and now she had to seriously think about her future. Second, she had a stranger, a former supervillain no less, sleeping on her couch just on the other side of her door.
The first reason occupied her mind the most and by four in the morning she had made up her mind. Finally, at peace in her mind she rolled over and began to drift off.
Through the fog of sleep, her ears registered a clanking sound. She opened her eyes and looked at her door in the dark.
"No…I control…" drifted in quietly.
She slipped out of bed and pulled a robe over her pajamas. MJ tiptoed across her room, expertly avoiding any noisy items. Quietly she eased her door open and peered out at Octavius.
The doctor was still on the couch atop the pillows. The actuators however were another story. All four of them were bent over Octavius and appeared to be looking at their creator. Octavius was still on his back but his hands were both twitching violently. The one resting on his chest that was formerly covering the actuator would twitch then splay flat and back again.
Silently MJ edged her way into the living area. The actuators turned to look at her together and she found four white "eyes" looking at her. None of them did anything menacing, just hovered in place and watched.
MJ crept closer and could see Octavius better. His eyebrows were furrowed, and his lips were pursed in a tight line. Octavius was breathing rapidly and making small noises.
Suddenly Octavius went still which caused MJ to freeze. MJ held her breath in the silence as the actuators turned back to Octavius. One of the claws rotated making a quiet whirring.
Octavius's face relaxed slightly "Rosie" he breathed softly.
MJ almost smiled. That was his wife's name Octavius had said. Perhaps her presence in his dream would soothe him. She crept closer and now only the coffee table separated her from the couch.
"Help" Octavius said quietly. It sounded almost like a whimper as the doctor pleaded for something inside his own mind.
MJ decided to pity the doctor and reached for his shoulder to wake him when he flinched violently and scared her.
"Run" came the strangled cry from Octavius. MJ took a large step backward before realizing Octavius was still asleep. The doctor was flinching violently as though being hit with bolts of electricity all over with the exception of his arms which stayed pinned in place. MJ could see a line of tears making their way down the sides of the doctor's face and into his hair.
Just when she got her courage up to try and wake him again Octavius gasp loudly. The actuators moved back and forth before the upper right one jabbed Octavius in the side quite hard making him groan. When Octavius didn't wake the actuator tried again before MJ could get close.
MJ stopped the actuator and gently moved it back. Kneeling down beside the couch she took Octavius by the shoulder.
"Doctor you need to wake up it's just a nightmare." She called while shaking him gently.
Suddenly Octavius's eyes flew open and his arms shot out as if to catch himself. He looked around quickly "Rosie?" he called in a panic. MJ leaned back on her heels to give him a little room to calm down.
"No Doctor," MJ said quietly when his eyes finally landed on her.
The pain that crossed Octavius's features made MJ want to cry herself. He relaxed back down with what sounded like a muffled sob. She stood up and tried to not look down at him with as much pity as she felt.
"I apologize if I woke you. You can go back to bed I'm….fine." He laid his head back down a little to the side seemingly trying to hide his face.
MJ thought for a moment taking in the sight before her.
"Actually, it's almost five in the morning. I don't think either of us is going to sleep. How about some coffee?" she headed for the kitchenette.
She busied herself with getting the coffee maker going and trying to give him some time to calm down.
"How do you like your coffee?" she called. Silence
"Milk no sugar please."
By the time she had two steaming mugs of coffee in her hands and returned to the couch, Octavius was sitting up with the actuators resting around him. The pillows had been placed in a neat stack off to the side.
She offered the cup to the disheveled-looking Doctor before sitting beside him.
"Thank you"
"No problem. We're all going to need a pick me up today." She tried to lighten the mood.
They both silently sipped their coffee. The actuators twitched every once in a while but it didn't make MJ flinch anymore.
Octavius was looking around at her living room now. MJ opened her mouth to start a conversation but Octavius beat her to it.
"That's where I know your name from." He pointed lightly at one of her play posters "My wife…Rosie and I…We saw one of your shows at the University not too long ago."
"Oh" MJ felt herself blushing a little.
"We loved to go to the theatre." Octavius sighed. He quietly sipped his coffee.
MJ sat silently just looking at the wall. She decided finally to ask questions she had floating around in her head.
"Doctor?"
He turned the best he could without aggravating his ribs.
"Could you explain..." she gestured to the actuators "them in a little better detail? How do they work? And if they access your thoughts how do you get any privacy?"
For a moment Octavius thought silently. He eyed the four metal appendages that were lazily draped around him. Then the actuators gently closed their circle till they were only wrapped around him.
"As you know they are connected to my spine but they are also wired directly into my nervous system and brain. The neural link between their programming and my mind is essential. Without their artificial intelligence, I would not be able to do anything with them. The human mind is programmed for this" He gestured to himself " body. Not four extra arms. The strain would be tremendous." He stopped and took another sip of his coffee. "and as for privacy, I don't get any."
MJ shook her head "But why make their personalities different?"
Octavius smiled a little "Without the differences, they would all move as one and that certainly wouldn't work."
"No, I guess it wouldn't." MJ stared into her coffee before asking again. "Maybe this is the actor in me but…what are they like?"
Octavius's eyebrows creased as he thought.
"Well. Imagine having four…children. All are smart and capable but they just can't understand others. Society and human normalcies confuse them." He placed his now empty mug on the coffee table.
" For example, on the shore when they hid themselves. Once under my coat, they squeezed to try and provide a little support for my aching body. They knew what I wanted but not the extent or purpose."
MJ nodded.
"And when they rather briskly took the pills from you. In my mind I wanted relief and I wanted it sooner rather than later. I know to be polite when asking things of others however they took those thoughts and decided that you were moving too slowly for what I wanted. Since I am their host they are most concerned with my welfare." He looked down at the claw sitting in his lap.
"And they have no patience." MJ giggled "What are their personalities?"
The actuators all inclined their heads to look at him.
"This one" Octavius pointed to his upper left one " Is the one my wife insisted be fine-tuned with what she called a woman's instinct." The actuator whirled. "She usually does the more delicate work such as soldering or fine circuitry."
"Or taking off your glasses." MJ said pointedly.
"Or taking off my glasses. She can also be a little…emotional. Definitely quicker to defend my ideas than the others."
MJ smiled finding that she rather enjoyed this conversation.
"This one" he poked a finger at his upper right one " is a little hot-headed. And as you said impatient." Octavius indicated to the slightly chunkier lower ones " Meet the weight lifters with the minds of a five-year-old of the group. They pretty much question everything the other two do before doing exactly the same thing they were told to do. The only difference between them is that one knows how to lift gently."
MJ laughed "You aren't going to offend them are you?"
"No, they don't know what to think of the descriptions." He eyed them before looking at her. All four actuators turned to her. MJ got the message loud and clear.
"I think they were perfectly fine descriptions, Doctor." She said in her best actor voice.
All four actuators whirred happily.
Octavius smiled.
"I could only imagine what it would be like if they could speak." MJ joked.
"Oh, my dear they can and do." He tapped the side of his head "up here. All the time."
MJ looked amazed "Really? You have four other voices in your head?"
"Yes," Octavius replied flatly. "
Will continue! Come back soon!