The sun shone brightly outside while I cooked a large pot of soup. It was my day off from work and I was bored. As I stirred the soup, I heard the front door open.
I glanced over my shoulder to see Leslie standing behind me. “Hey,” I said with a smile, turning back to sprinkle some parsley into the mix. “Been a while since I’ve seen you.”
“Yeah, I’ve been busy.”
I leaned against the counter by the stove so I could face them. “Still dealing with 216894?”
“Right. And, um, about that,” Leslie said slowly, scratching at their head, their different colored nails glinting in the sunlight – the first time I’d seen that since their hand was injured.
The sight of it made me smile. “I missed your fun nail polish.”
I expected Leslie to respond with some sort of teasing comment; instead they frowned, crossing their arms. “Some interesting things have come up with the investigation,” they continued.
The sound of the soup boiling over drew my attention. I quickly moved the pot off the stove.
“...with him?” Leslie finished.
Wait, what? What had they said? I’d heard them speaking, but naturally my condition had acted up as soon as my back was turned.
“Yes or no, Dax,” they said when I remained silent.
“Um... yes,” I replied – that was usually the right answer. I checked to see if the soup was ready. “I’m pretty sure I made too much. Would you like to…” I trailed off as soon as I saw the look on Leslie’s face.
They were seething, their hands clenched at their sides. “You’re not even going to pretend? Got caught, so you give up like that? And pretty shamelessly too.”
“Huh?” I squeaked out. What was happening? Why were they so angry?
“Though, I’ve gotta hand it to you, Dax: you’re an excellent liar.”
My heart dropped. Did they find out about my condition somehow? I drifted over to a chair at the table, trying to understand Leslie’s words as they spoke.
“I thought we were friends,” they said. “I thought that maybe...” Leslie scoffed, shaking their head. “Andhfeklmtsjdhfsilkamnedfsepirjend, are you even human, ‘Dax’?”
I whimpered. The way they’d said my name hurt – like it didn’t belong to me. This had nothing to do with my condition. What in the world had I said yes to?
I looked up at them through teary eyes. “Of course I’m human.”
Leslie’s expression didn’t change. “Maybe, maybe not. Either way, you’re coming with me to the Strokes. And before you even think of trying anything, know this: I will fight you if I have to.”
The ground felt distant, like I was suddenly using someone else’s legs. My grip tightened on the back of the chair. How could Leslie say something like that?
“I can’t have any threats to Illagu,” Leslie continued, “from the System or otherwise.”
“Oh, now you care about System threats,” came Ramona’s voice from the front door.
When did she even get home?
Leslie’s eyes closed. “Not now, Ramona.”
She paused from piling shopping bags onto her red armchair, her eyes darting between me and Leslie. “What’s... going on? And why are you suddenly worried about threats from the System?”
Leslie sighed, rubbing their eyes. “Because you were right,” they replied, glancing her way. “The System did attack us and it used 216894 to do it. Later, we can argue day and night about whether freeing the System is worth it, but, as my friend, can you just back off and let me do my job?”
Ramona’s forehead creased as she looked from Leslie to me. “...To do what exactly?”
I took a deep breath and plastered on a smile. “It’s fine, Ramona,” I lied. “I’m just going to go with Leslie to the Strokes to answer a few questions. It’s going to be fine.”
To be continued…