There was a strange atmosphere among the newcomers that evening. Now that they were finally safe, the adrenaline was wearing off and fatigue was setting in. There were those who tried to find comfort in food and a soft, cozy bed, those who tried to socialize with the other team members, those who had not yet fully realized what was happening and were living the experience as a kind of dream or summer camp, and those who wanted to be alone and indulge in a liberating crying session.
Yutani was the first to try to socialize with her new companions. She was particularly intrigued by Bruno, as he had been mentioned several times as the group's engineer. After exploring almost every available room except the locked ones, she decided to pay a visit to the mysterious and elusive boy.
He knocked on the door, from which came loud, piercing mechanical noises, similar to an electric saw trying to cut through a piece of metal. Getting no answer, he decided to open the door and take a look inside.
A rather large workroom pleased her eyes and lit a spark in her scientist's heart. To work in such a laboratory would have been a dream! At home, she was allowed to experiment, but the materials were poor and the space was always too small. Here, at a glance, she could see a pile of tools, gadgets, and trivial sockets that would have been immensely useful to her. The room was also incredibly organised and clean. If she had been in charge, this room would have been turned upside down in a day.
A boy was hunched over a table in the left corner of the workshop, completely engrossed in his work. His ice-blue eyes were a fascinating contrast to his thick, dark, curly hair, giving him an objectively charming vibe. He was trying to open a strange metal ball by cutting it with a small circular saw, but he was having trouble keeping it straight because of a silver glove covering his left forearm... or was it some kind of prosthesis? Yutani couldn't really tell from this distance. She could barely see what looked like a virtual reality visor dangling from the boy's neck
"Hey there! I hope I'm not bothering you. I'm Yutani, nice to meet you. I'm one of the newcomers." As she came closer, she smiled at him and offered him her hand.
The boy replied in a friendly and calm tone, though he did not take his eyes off his work, nor did he show any sign of wanting to shake her hand back.
"Hello, Yutani. Nice to meet you. My name is Bruno. Sorry, but I am a little busy right now."
Yutani did not take it badly, remembering Tasha's words. "I understand. What are you doing? Can I see it? You know, I'm a technology enthusiast too. Maybe I can help you."
Bruno looked at her for a brief moment before he went back to what he was doing.
"I don't think you can help me. This technology is very complicated and not many people understand it. I am trying to create a robot. Besides, I don't work well with someone else, I'm sorry. I have to work alone."
"Hmm. I see." Yutani couldn't help but feel disappointed. She couldn't accept his mistrust towards her, why did he think she couldn't understand what he wanted to do?
"Is it because I'm a girl?" Yutani couldn't help but ask directly. Too many fellow inventors underestimated her without even knowing her, stopping only at her looks or her young age.
"No. I think few people really understand these things, male or female." He touched a button on a small device placed on his right ear. "Excuse me. I don't mean to offend you. But I can't work and talk to anyone. I need silence. Please talk to me later, I will not hear you from now on."
Yutani stared at him with an annoyed expression. He might be a good-looking guy, those glasses gave him a fascinating look and framed his face beautifully, but he was a conceited guy. Who did he think he was? Einstein?
"We'll see." She muttered as he pulled up the sleeves of his green sweatshirt. "We'll see who understands this stuff better."
Despite her irritation, she was beginning to become intrigued by the situation. It had never occurred to her to have a rival, and it ignited something in her, a strong competitive spirit that made her fingers tingle, eager to prove Bruno wrong for underestimating her. She was eager to act, to create.
The girl went to the other side of the room and picked up some tools to work with. Bruno did not seem to mind; he seemed so absorbed in his work that he barely noticed Yutani's presence in the room.
After about four hours, Bruno felt someone tap him on the shoulder. At first he tried to ignore that attempt to get his attention, hoping that the other person would understand his need to be left alone. But after the fourth attempt, the boy sighed deeply and turned his head to look behind him.
"Yutani, please..." he interrupted himself, looking in amazement at a large, round, metallic face staring friendly back at him.
"Meet... Tagbot!" Yutani announced enthusiastically and patted the robot standing next to her on the shoulder. "Here's the robot you wanted. Are you still convinced that you're the only one here who understands anything about it?"
Bruno did not know what to say. He watched as the robot waved his hand in front of his face, greeting him with wide, amazed eyes. Suddenly, a huge smile appeared on the boy's face and he jumping on the spot in joyful excitement.
"Oh! But-but it's beautiful, Yutani! It's fantastic!!! Wonderful!!!! A robot that finally works!!!! But does it talk?"
Yutani was stunned at first by her rival's sudden change of attitude, but she felt immediately charmed by his enthusiasm. Laughing, she crossed her arms and nodded to her creation.
"Tagbot, say hello!"
[Pleased to meet you.] the robot obeyed, removing its head to dribble it playfully. Bruno chuckled in obvious amusement.
"My compliments, Yutani. Really. I love robots as much as I love airplanes. Airplanes are like majestic metal angels in the sky, and robots are like the Adam and Eve of mankind. You know? But I don't want to bore you. How would you feel about... sharing our plans?"
"Don't worry, I think it's an interesting point of view. So you finally want to work with me?"
"No. As I explained before, I really have a hard time working with someone else. I get stuck and end up not getting anything done. I really need to work alone to fully utilize my abilities."
Yutani noticed that although they were now talking face to face, Bruno continued to avoid her gaze, focusing mainly on Tagbot. She didn't pay much attention to it, thinking that Bruno was just being shy. She smiled sweetly at him and nodded.
"I understand. Don't worry about it. We can divide projects and work separately. Tagbot can help us. Let's see who can invent as many things as possible. The winner will be declared the best inventor. Deal?"
Bruno smiled back and nodded. After that, the competition was open. They talked intensely about their projects, not stopping until they were interrupted by Tasha, who came to call them to dinner.
"Guys! Come to the dining room, Ninja has prepared some delicious food!"
Yutani stretched and informed Tasha that they would arrive shortly. Bruno, however, did not move, but continued to write notes on a piece of paper.
"Hey Bruno, don't you want to eat? You can't work forever."
"I will eat later. I don't like to eat with too many people around. They all start talking, making noise and asking me a thousand questions. It is even worse when there are newcomers. It's too tiring for me. I prefer to eat later alone. But thank you for the thought."
"I understand. Then I'll bring you something to eat." Yutani shook his head and smiled as he left the room.
~
The dining room was decorated with white orchids and furniture adorned with small red details: candles, figurines, a long tablecloth that stretched like a strip across the center of the large wooden table from one end to the other. The atmosphere was warm and inviting, thanks in part to the cheerful chatter of the guests, which slightly masked the jazz music playing in the background.
When Yutani entered the room, the others had already begun to eat. He was relieved to find that Bruno was not the only one missing from the meal: the mysterious stranger with the rabbit mask, the Zombie Lady and King were also absent.
The table was covered with all kinds of Japanese delicacies. Delicious little plates of rice, meat, raw fish, and tempting-looking vegetables made her mouth water. She approached her friends, who greeted her cheerfully.
"Yutani! Where have you been all this time?" Fresh asked her happily. He looked much better than he had a few hours ago.
"I was with Bruno. We're working on projects together, it's great. He's a real genius, we have so much fun."
"Bruno?" Jake's face seemed to darken. "Who is Bruno?" He asked in an annoyed and suspicious tone.
Yutani was surprised by this attitude. She glanced at Tricky, who replied with a smirk. He only understood the situation when he winked at her.
Oh.
Jake was jealous.
She liked that. She had never seen him like that before and it amused her. Yutani smiled mischievously and nodded.
"Bruno is the boy from the lab. He is very smart, funny and damn good looking. A real gem."
"Hmm. I bet he's just a boring nerd. If he's so nice, why doesn't he just come over and say hello? Why doesn't he eat here with us?"
"Because he's too busy. You know how he is, he doesn't have all the time in the world like some of us to waste time skateboarding. He works and makes plans." Oh, how Yutani loved to see Jake mad for something like that. It made her feel important and wanted, and the fact that he took the bait so easily entertained her. She shrugged and started to gather food on two plates.
"What are you doing now? Why don't you sit down?" Jake became visibly irritated.
"I'm bringing him food. We will eat together tonight, I can't leave him all alone in the lab." Yutani replied casually. "It's not like we're the only ones who don't eat here anyway. Where is King? And Bunny Man? I suppose the Zombie Lady eats alone, but the others?"
"King went to the bathroom about halfway through dinner, although now that I think about it, he's been in the bathroom for a long time." Rain replied from across the table. "Frank never eats with us. He also says he's busy with his computers, but I think he doesn't want to take off his mask in front of us."
"Why? Doesn't he trust you?" Tricky tilted her head, rather confused.
"That man trusts no one, unfortunately. Probably because as long as no one knows his real face, he is safe no matter what happens. Too bad though, I really want us to be friends, but it's like there's a wall between him and the others," Rain held her head in her hands while resting her elbows on the table. He had a disappointed look on his face. "Barricading yourself behind coldness can be both safe and incredibly lonely. I wonder if he really is as unemotional as he wants us to think, or if he just keeps it all inside."
"He's just a crazy psychopath." Fresh commented bitterly. "I would really stay away from him, Rain. Do you know what he did to us? He tried to kill us three times. First with cyanide in our tea, then by almost poisoning us with gas from the stove, and finally by locking us in a train and setting it on fire." The boy clenched his hands to keep them from shaking too visibly. "And he almost sent an innocent man to prison."
Rain sighed deeply. "Fresh, I absolutely do not condone his atrocities. I know he killed other people before he tried to kill you." Rain took a sip from their glass before speaking again.
"If he were not good with computers, he would probably be our assassin instead of our hacker. But you have to understand that in this sad, sick world, murder is normal. It is not taken as seriously as it is by you. Here prisons are only for keeping prisoners to torture, for punishment there is only death, and every citizen can take justice in their own hands if they have enough reasons to do so. For example, you can kill your partner if they are infertile, because you can't have children with them anyway. It is for these and many other reasons that we have come together to destroy this sick system. But sometimes the context in which you grow up makes you do things you wouldn't do in other situations. That does not justify anything, but you have to take that into account." They shrugged. "It's not always all black and white. Good and bad. Nothing is ever that simple."
Fresh did not react; he just ate his portion of rice in silence. Meanwhile, Yutani and Jake were having a discussion about letting Jake eat with them in the lab. Yutani wasn't allowing that: access denied to the people who weren't working there. Jake wanted to come anyway. At some point, Yutani simply left the room. Jake glared at her and followed her with his gaze.
"I'm going to check if King is all right. He's been in the bathroom for so long, I'm getting worried." Rain muttered before getting up and walking to another room.
Jake tried to continue eating, but the nervousness of what had just happened closed his stomach. All he could think about was Yutani's words, how she seemed to be so interested in that obnoxious nerd and how he seemed to be all that existed in her head now.
She had even talked about skateboarding as a waste of time, a stupid passion that only a stupid kid could have. How could Yutani abandon his gang and their beliefs after all these years?
He had to do something. He had to win her back. He had to prove that he was not just a street punk, that he could be an intellectual as well. But he knew absolutely nothing about computers, technology and robots. It would be an unequal battle.
Unless...
"Excuse me." Jake stood up suddenly, drawing the attention of Tricky and Fresh. "I'll be right back." He said before storming out of the room.