Chương 92: Book 2 - Chapter 15 - An Evening at Home

"So… what did you think?" Sharron asked. The kids had already come out, eaten some genuine synthetic meat, horsed around, then went to bed, so it was just Jane, Alan, Sharron and myself left in the garage. I just shrugged, sinking further into the plastic chair I'd been sitting in most of the night.

"I don't get it."

"What?" Sharron just sat up straight and stared at me in shock.

"You didn't find the barbeque relaxing? We had a good atmosphere, good food and good friends. What more do you want?"

"All that was fine. At the end of the day it just seemed to be making dinner with extra steps. The kids enjoyed it, so I guess that's a good thing."

"I will admit, the food was way better than we're normally used to. Thank you for cooking," Jane cut in, while shooting me a harsh look.

"I'm just being honest. I still remember the days when we had to struggle for every little scrap of food. I'm thankful we can keep the kids fed these days, but I can't say cooking 'outside' makes it any more relaxing."

"How can you be so thick?" Alan asked from across our makeshift circle.

"It's a new experience, something we NEVER would have experienced a couple months ago. Can't you just enjoy it?"

"Enjoy, sure. Relax, not so much. Even though we're safe inside the shelter, it's still pretty open compared to most places. My instincts are yelling at me to find cover. A small enclosed space where I can't be ambushed. It's hard to suppress, or relearn, sixteen years of survival instincts in a few weeks." Even though I could see Sharron didn't understand, I saw both Jane and Alan nod in agreement.

"Well, at least I could feed you something nice," Sharron said, grabbing a drink out of the cooler.

"I don't understand how you could still eat that tasteless slop after becoming a Samurai. You could have perfectly balanced meals that taste great, for mere points a day. Yet I've seen you eating those nutrient bars, or paste, on a regular basis."

"It's cheap, keeps forever, and Jane keeps it on hand for emergencies. I have no problem spending points on the kids, but I'm not going to waste the points on myself. I've grown up living on nutrient supplements, and I can survive without the luxury. Just because I've become a Samurai doesn't mean I'm going to change overnight." I paused, for a moment.

"That being said, I am slowly adapting. I like sleeping on a comfortable bed at night, and I'll occasionally splurge on something for myself. We don't have to count every single credit anymore." Sharron sat back in her chair and took a deep swig of her beverage.

"I sometimes forget how little you guys used to have. I never saw your old digs, I've only really gotten to know you since you moved into the shelter, and you live a decent, if frugal, life now."

"It's all we really need, there's no reason to splurge on extravagances." I drained my beverage, threw the container to one of the bears standing around the periphery, then stood up.

"Anyways, you wanted to show us board games? I'm going to veto that movie idea. We don't have a TV here, and you mentioned your favorite genre is horror earlier; That hive we burned earlier is already going to give me nightmares, I don't need something else keeping me up at night."

"We could watch something else, horror is just my favorite, but fair enough; We'll play a board game first. I have a couple in the RV we could play. I'd describe them to you, but I know Evelyn would just stare at me blankly then just tell me to choose one."

"You know her so well," Alan quipped. I just ignored the snarky bastard and followed Sharron back to her place. The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. At the side of her living area was a small cabinet absolutely filled with boxes. As far as I could tell, most of them had never been opened. When I saw that I shot her a quick look.

"Don't judge me. I played them a lot when I was an IS, since there weren't many other activities we could do without putting ourselves deeper in debt. I picked a bunch up after I bought my RV, but this is the first chance I've had to play one." She dug through the pile, pulling out a box from the bottom.

"How about this one? It's cooperative." I took the game, and shrugged.

"It looks as good as any of the other ones. I guess we can give it a try. How bad could it be?" As it turns out, a game about trying to save the world from several world-ending diseases at the same time is not that chill. It's actually kind of stressful. We barely managed to survive, and at the end of it I just collapsed on the table.

"That was fascinating… I never expected to require so much strategy to deal with a handful of cards and plastic cubes," Jane said, inspecting a couple of the playing pieces.

"Nor did I think that Evelyn would be so good at it."

"My brain hurts," I complained, pulling my hood down further.

"I think I might have been thinking so hard I triggered my distributed planning implants." Both Alan and Jane looked at me in confusion.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Alan asked.

"It's a Samurai thing that helps me organize the bears, and occasionally helps me think good," I replied.

"Well, it's clearly not helping you now," Alan shot back.

"How do you 'Accidentally' trigger something like that?" Jane asked. She leaned over and placed a hand on my head, probably to check my temperature, before leaning back again.

"You know me, if it was something I had to activate, or even remember that I had, it would never get used. I really didn't think the first time I'd test it was a board game. Kinda expected it to happen during a massive siege or something," I replied, before rubbing my eyes.

"Somehow, I'm not surprised in the slightest," Sharron said from across the table.

"Although you're very by the numbers when it comes to the bears, every once in a while you do something completely unconventional."

"Name one time!" I challenged her.

"You stole the main weapon off another Samurai's mech in order to shoot a hive from several blocks away." Even with my head down I could see Jane turn and look at me. I guess I hadn't mentioned that one.

"Or when you started mounting antithesis lures into your IFVs, so you didn't need to clear every single building in Seattle."

"In all fairness that last one was Angeline's idea, but you've made your point." I stood up, teetering on my feet a little, before steadying myself.

"Thank you for all your assistance today Sharron, but I think I'm going to head to bed."

"Sure, no problem," she said with a smile.

"I have a couple more ideas if you want some more help relaxing tomorrow." I winced, I didn't really want to tell her that I didn't find her relaxation methods all that helpful. In fact, most of them were quite stressful. Instead of disappointing her, I told her the truth.

"Actually… I'd like to spend some time with the kids tomorrow, since I've either been busy, or away a lot lately. I know I actually should have made some time before now, so I need to make up for it." Jane glanced at me surprised, "Really? I'm sure the kids would appreciate it, but I don't mind watching them. Since you've provided some stability for us and purchased that teaching bot, it's actually an easy job these days."

"I could find you something more to do. That bot apparently teaches absolutely every job in the world. As crazy as it sounds." Jane paused, and cocked her head to the side.

"I'll think about it, but later."

"Sure," I replied.

"Tomorrow. I'm dead on my feet, so I'll talk to you all in the morning." Everyone said their good nights, before I stumbled down the hallway and slid into my room. It was dark, which was absolutely fine for me, it saved me from reaching for a switch. I just stumbled into my bed, and was cradled by the soft cozyness. This was my ideal way to relax, a cozy bed and peace and quiet. It didn't take long until I was drifting off to sleep.