Chapter 426

With his plan set in motion, James decided, even though he didn’t quite feel like it, that he would keep his word with Fel, and visit Alex. He excited away from the general appointment area of the hospital, and made his way back to the lobby, and one of the kiosks for visitation. After a few moments, his request to visit Alex was approved. This time around, his trip to the secure part of the hospital was a little smoother. Sure, the alarms were still set off by Dagger, but the moment they saw it was still him and his dog, they let him through without any issue.

“Bout time you made it.” Fel said with a grin as James entered into Alex’s room. The Senior he’d come to visit was sitting upright, and James could immediately tell there was a bit more color to his skin this time around. Last time he’d visited Alex, the poor boy had been a few shades lighter than he normally was, likely in part to the amount of pain he’d been in. The sight of Alex recovering, made James’s mood lift a bit more.

“Sorry,” James said with a shrug. “Something came up.”

Fel raised an eyebrow at that, but didn’t say anything else. Instead, she motioned for James to take up a seat that had been pulled alongside Alex’s bed, next to hers. Meanwhile, Dagger trotted calmly into the room, and sat between the two of them. The robot even started wagging its tail as it tilted its head towards Alex.

“They let you bring a dog in here?” Alex said with a laugh. Previously, the action had caused Alex to wince. This time, only the faintest flinch could be seen, and James wondered if it was more from remembered feelings of pain, and less from actual pain. After all, Alex had been in the hospital for close to a week now, and the nanites had to be nearly done patching him up.

“Greetings Alexander” Dagger said just as Alex’s hand touched his head. “It is a pleasure to meet you.”

Alex’s hand snapped back away from Dagger’s head so quickly the Senior winced, this time in actual pain. He may be close to healed up, but such a sudden, jerking action, was bound to cause him a bit of pain.

“It can talk?” Alex looked from James, to a laughing Fel, and back to the dog. “Oh wait, is this a service robot?”

“Oh my god.” Fel was struggling to talk through her laughter. “You best bet I got that on camera. Oh my god, Felix is going to love this.”

Alex groaned. “Please, do not give that footage to my brother.”

“What’s in it for me?” Fel asked teasingly.

“Are you trying to blackmail your boyfriend?” Alex said with a smile.

“Only if it works.” Fel responded with a smile of her own.

“How’s a kiss sound?” Alex said, raising an eyebrow.

“Gonna cost you more than a single kiss.” Fel said, but she leaned forward, and the two shared a quick kiss, right there, in front of James. “But I’ll take that as a down payment.”

James, feeling like a third wheel, cleared his throat, drawing the attention back to him. He was loathe to do so, because watching the two, and how much they enjoyed each other’s company, did make him happy. It also reminded him of how he and Rue were around each other, which had made him feel sad, that he couldn’t be with her right now. Emotions, at times, were such a complex nightmare.

“This is Dagger.” James said, motioning down towards Dagger. “He’s a gift from my parents. To make sure, you know,” James waved a hand towards Alex, and pointed towards his own chin afterwards, “to make sure we don’t have a repeat situation.”

“Man, that is so cool.” Alex responded with a genuine smile. “I’ve never seen one that looked so realistic. Did your parents make him?”

James nodded, though he didn’t offer up any more details regarding who his parents were, and what they did. Fel knew, but that was because of her background, and her uh, fascination with hacking into things and getting information she shouldn’t. As far as most people knew, James’s parents were just scientists who worked on robots, who worked away from home.

“Any chance you can convince them to make me one?” Alex prompted with a chuckle. “Seems if you get something that cool, it’s only fair I do too. I mean, I feel like I needed protection more than you did.”

Alex laughed, and James tried to share in it, but it was half-hearted. He knew Alex was making light of the situation, but James still felt responsible for what had happened to Alex.

“I could always-“ James started, but he was immediately cut off.

“James gets a robot, but you’ve got me.” Fel said, her hand finding Alex’s and squeezing it tightly. “What would you prefer looking out for you?”

Alex looked back at Fel and grinned. “Fair. If the choice was between a robot or you by my side, I’d pick you every time. Besides, you totally kicked Dwight’s ass back then.”

Alex’s words brought another emotion into James’s chest, but he quickly pushed it away. Rue wasn’t a robot. And immersion was real. That was the real world to James, anyways.

“But, real talk.” Alex turned his focus back towards James, though he kept hold of Fel’s hand. “I’m glad you swung by man. Other than Fel and my family, the only other person that’s visited me has been Z. And, like, it was feeling strangely lonely, not having anyone else visit. It made me realize, the friends I thought I had, aren’t really the best of friends, you know?”

James knew that feeling all too well. He was a loner. He didn’t have any close friends. At least, he hadn’t before DCO. Sure, he’d had the occasional friend in a game, but both virtual and real world he usually kept to himself. It was easier that way. You couldn’t be let down, if you didn’t let people get close, nor could you let people down, if you had no one relying on you. That being said, his interactions with Rue, Steve, Z, and all the others, both personal, and through just watching the interactions, had made him come to realize having people he could rely on, wasn’t such a bad thing.

“Hey, you put yourself in the line of Dwight on my behalf.” James offered up, “how could I not come by and check up on you. I can assure you, no one else in school would have done that for me.”

“Other than probably Z.” Alex commented, and James nodded. If Z had been there, he definitely would have stepped in. James continued to find himself more and more interested in just who Z was. He seemed too good to be true. Everything about him, just seemed unreal. Was it possible the man really was just that good of a person? Everyone had flaws, didn’t they? That being said, did James want to push into Z’s life, and see what skeletons he may have in his closet? Not really, no.

“Yeah, Zs awesome. He’s been checking up on me as well. He got me reading some old novels too, that really are quite enjoyable.”

“Dude me too.” Alex said, and he motioned over towards the table in his room. Sitting there was a leatherbound book. The quick glance didn’t give James the name of the book, but he saw the author’s name. Brandon Sanderson.

“Nice. We should compare notes on the stories once we finish them.” James said, trying to move the conversation along. Because he knew what was coming next. It was inevitable.

“We can chat about them in game sometime man. Fel and I run as a duo, but you’re welcome to join us if you want. Not like you’d bring us down, yeah? And if you need a tank, my brother’s pretty good at face tanking things.”

“He must get that from how his brother acts in real life.” Fel quipped. Alex shot her a look and turned back with a smile towards James.

“Or, at the very least, we can grab something to eat at my parent’s restaurant in game. I’m sure you know this, but they run the Dicken Shack.”

James did indeed know that, and took that as a perfect opportunity to segue himself away from the topic of the one thing he couldn’t do with Alex, and that was, play DCO with him, into something else.

“Speaking of your parents,” James started, “I heard they’ve been doing quite well in DCO. Well enough that they’re thinking of closing down their shop in town?”

Alex took the bait, and began to give James the full details of the restaurant world, both in the real and virtual world, and all talks of James joining them in DCO, faded quickly from the room. Much as it pained James, for now, it was best if Alex stay in the dark. Best for James, best for Fel, and ultimately, the best for Alex. The less he risked discovering, the less he had to fear. It was good seeing Alex happy. He didn’t need to know about the world happening in the shadows around him. Especially not the bit about Fel’s mother threatening his life… On second thought, James made a mental note to see if his parents could make a robot companion for Alex.