chapter fourteen: to start a conversation.

Marcus and Luna arrived at male dormitory three. It was a medium size building with three stories.

Stepping inside Marcus and Luna were greeted with an open floor lobby, with a large circular desk in its center.

Behind the central desk were three humanoid androids. They had gray skin a blue glowing eyes, they were dressed in white uniforms with long white hair.

Though genderless, they bore the appearance of females.

Approaching the desk, one of the androids slowly turned their attention towards Marcus, causing a shiver to run down his spine.

Marcus wasn't afraid of androids, not in the slightest however, he did find them unnerving. Androids weren't as common as some tech bros wished, as humanoid robots aren't really necessary in most practical applications.

Socially, however, they were making great strides in places like Asia.

"Checking, checking, checking." The android said rapidly as it scanned Marcus with its illuminated eyes, "Data found, cadet Marcus Fall, hello!" It exclaimed with a warm smile.

"Yo," Marcus replied with a casual salute.

The android stared at Marcus blankly, after a moment it smiled once more, "Hello!" It exclaimed, "How can I help you?"

Marcus glanced at Luna with a worried expression, before eventually turning his attention back towards the android. "I'm here to check into my dorm room, room twenty-four."

The android eyes flickered once more. "Confirmed, cadet Fall, is assigned to room twenty-four, access granted." 

The android then reached below the desk and retrieved a small, white plastic card, with a swift and efficient motion it handed Marcus the card.

Marcus hesitantly accepted the card. "Uh, thanks I guess."

"You're welcome!" The android exclaimed with a wide synthetic smile.

Marcus gave the android a side eye before quickly walking away from it.

Luna, who was holding Marcus's hand throughout the entire ordeal, struggled to keep her neutral expression. Her lips slowly curled upwards into a smile.

Marcus hadn't noticed her, as he was solely focused on the elevator. 

He pressed the call button, and after a brief moment of silence, the elevator arrived with a ding.

The elevator doors slowly slid open, revealing a clean and well-illuminated interior.

Marcus and Luna stepped inside.

Once inside Marcus had let out a breath he didn't know he was holding, causing Little to finally laugh softly.

"What?" Marcus asked curiously as he looked down at Luna to see her laughing.

Luna looked up to Marcus with a curious yet amused expression. "Are you really afraid of such a rudimentary automaton?"

"Oh." Marcus said in realization, "I'm not scared of robots, I just… feel uncomfortable around them, they're so human-like, it's uncanny."

Luna nodded in understanding, "So if a machine is pleasant to your eye, then you'd be fine with it?"

Marcus turned his attention towards the elevator and pressed the button for the top floor.

The elevator doors closed and began its ascent.

He then took a step back and paused to think about Luna's question.

After a brief moment, he spoke up. "Yeah, pretty much." He said with a nod of his head.

"I think that's true for anything though, right? like you'd rather have Ice Cream that tastes like shit, then vice versa."

Luna nodded in agreement. "But what if you had ice cream that both looked and tasted as how it should, would you accept it?"

The elevator reached the top floor and opened with a loud ding.

"If it looks like a duck..." Marcus said with a smile as he stepped out of the elevator.

Luna grinned as she followed him out, their hands still intertwined.

"I'll say this once," Luna said softly as they walked down the hallway, passing doors one through twenty-three. "Despite your foolishness, you hold great intelligence and wisdom, be sure to let that show more often."

Marcus chuckled as he rubbed his thumb against the back of Luna's hand, her cold skin smooth to the touch. "And you are quite the sweet little demon, despite our…. Interesting first encounter, you've been really kind, helpful even."

Luna smiled. "It's only for convenience, I'd gain nothing from being difficult."

Marcus smirked as he gestured towards their hands. "Yeah, convince is what you call it right?"

Luna only smiled in response.

Marcus didn't know when exactly Luna had become so agreeable, but he wasn't complaining.

He remembered when he and Luna first began living with each other, how she was very demanding and authoritative.

But as time passed she became increasingly mellow, focusing her time on reading and carving miniature clay statues.

And now she was holding his hand and talking to him as if he was just a friend.

Sure Luna still kept her distance and Marcus still didn't know who she was in the slightest, but it was progress nonetheless.

Marcus and Luna finally arrived at room twenty-four.

He began to knock on the door, just in case Felix was inside.

A moment after knocking Marcus could hear the sound of a bed squeaking, as if someone was rising from it.

"I guess Felix is home," Marcus said to himself.

The door opened swiftly, revealing Felix dressed in a white t-shirt and blue shorts.

"Sup bro!" Felix exclaimed with a wide smile.

Marcus smiled, "What's up man, you have been alright?"

Felix nodded. "Yeah." He then gestured inside the room with his thumb, "Oh, by the way, your stuff arrived last night."

"Yeah, Dr. Fletcher already told me about that, can I come in?"

Felix took a step back, allowing enough room for Marcus to step in.

In the room was a bunk bed in the far right corner next to a dresser and lamp.

Across from the beds was a large flat screen mounted above a medium-sized shelf that held a game system, collectibles, books, and a jar of cookies/ candy.

Beside the shelf and TV, we're Marcus's bags and belongings, piled nice and neat.

And finally on the left side wall, were two open doors.

One which led to a modest bathroom, and another which led to a decently sized closet.

"This place is nice," Marcus said with a nod of his head. "Could definitely use some flare though."

Felix shrugged his shoulders. "What for?" He asked as he closed the door, "we'd barely be in here once the exams begin."

"That's true," Marcus said as he navigated towards his stuff. If the exams were anything like how Kenji and Elissa made them seem, he'd probably only see this room at night and early in the morning.

Felix turned his attention towards Luna, who was standing beside Marcus as he examined his bags.

"Is that…. Girl staying with us?" He asked hesitantly as he gestured towards Luna with his pointer finger.

Marcus nodded. "I'd assume so, she has left my side all this time."

"What do you mean?" Felix asked curiously.

"Our relationship doesn't concern you, so drop it," Luna answered coldly as she glared at him.

Felix crossed his arms and sighed. "Look, I have a lot of questions that I'm not even going to ask, but if you expect to stay in here then I'm going to need to what to expect between you two."

Felix's jovial tone had simmered down, replaced by genuine concern and curiosity.

Marcus sighed internally, he should've known Felix was going to ask about Luna at one point or another. 

But he didn't know what he could and couldn't say, he couldn't just say Luna was an anomaly, that would be too risky even if the organization itself already knew Luna's case.

However, he couldn't be too vague either, as it'll likely cause Felix to feel uncomfortable or even cause him to do something unpredictable.

With a heavy sigh, Marcus looked up from his bags to face Felix. "She's my friend, and that's all I'm at liberty to say right now."

Felix raised an eyebrow. "Friend huh?"

There was a moment of tension between the trio, with Felix looking down at Luna and Marcus with an expression of skepticism.

Finally, Felix tossed his arms up in resignation. "I guess I'll just have to trust you, bro."

Marcus breathed a sigh of relief. He wouldn't hesitate to leave this place if it put him and Luna in a bad spot, but he didn't want to.

"Thanks, Felix, I appreciate your patience."

Felix nodded as he navigated back towards the bunk beds. "It's cool when you get settled in let's play some games, bro."

With that exchange, Marcus returned to unpacking his belongings.

Luna meanwhile turned her attention towards the small collection of books on the shelf underneath the TV.

She began reading the spines of the books with the tilt of her head, eventually her gaze landed on a book titled, To Be a Detective.

She quickly selected it with gentle care.

Felix, who watched the entire sequence of events unfold, could only smile. "That's a good one." He said with a smile as he unpaused his game.

Luna looked over at Felix who was now engrossed in his gaming session, she then looked back down at the book with a perplexed expression.

After a second of studying the book, she returned to sit beside Marcus, without replying to Felix.

Marcus had finished organizing his belongings after around thirty minutes. 

When he finished Felix had approached him with a grin. "Well bro, there's nothing else to do today, and tomorrow is going to be a doozy with orientation, so how about that gaming session?"

Marcus grinned as he turned around to see Felix handing him a gaming controller.

"I don't see why not," Marcus said with a chuckle as he accepted the controller.

Marcus and Felix walked towards the bunk beds, where they both sat on the bottom bunk.

Luna followed them and sat beside Marcus, book in hand.

Felix grinned as he began going through his library of video games.

"So what are you trying to play bro?" Felix asked as Felix continued navigating through his library of games, a new title popping up every few seconds.

"Got any looter shooters?" Marcus asked, "Something like Post Fall Five or grand time rush six?"

Felix nodded, "I got grand time rush five." 

Marcus sighed as he crossed his arms, "that game is so old." Marcus said with a chuckle, it released when… 2013 I think?"

"It's only been twenty years," Felix said with a pout. "Besides, retro games are fun."

Marcus chuckled. "I can't believe we're about to play a game older than ourselves, but it's whatever I'm game."

Felix scoffed as navigated his menu towards the game, he then pressed play.

The screen faded to black, before a short cinematic clip began to play, showing a character driving away from the police in a high-speed chase.

Marcus felt a slight tingling sensation running up his arms, despite the game's age the graphics seemed to hold up well.

The boys quickly became engrossed in the game's high-stakes chases and blood-pumping action.

The atmosphere in the room had changed subtly, from a slight tension to camaraderie and competition.

Luna meanwhile had fully immersed herself in her book, enjoying its gritty and well-crafted story against the backdrop of Felix and Marcus's playful banter.

As the evening progressed, the gaming session slowly drew to a close.

"Man… I'm tired," Marcus said with a yawn as he placed his controller on his lap.

Felix was in a similar situation, his eyes red with irritation and his body leaning on the upper right steel beam that held up the upper bed of the bunk bed.

"Nah bro, we gotta rob this last bank man…." Felix was barely awake, the controller slowly slipping out of his hands.

Marcus looked over at Felix and grinned faintly, he was no stranger to late-night gaming sessions. He knew that if they went on any further their morning would be an absolute disaster.

"I call top bunk Felix," Marcus said as he moved the controller from his lap and stood up. 

He then began to stretch his arms up high as he yawned once more.

Felix blinked his eyes out of synch, struggling to maintain consciousness. "You're a coward, bro." Felix said in slurred speech, "I'll beat this mission without you."

Marcus smiled. "If ya say so, but that's a dangerous game you're playing, and I'm not talking about GTR IV."

Felix mumbled something incoherently about beating the game alone.

Marcus meanwhile turned his attention towards Luna, who was sitting on the top bunk already. 

She moved up there after Marcus bumped into her one too many times.

"I'm coming up, Luna," Marcus said as he began to climb the ladder that led to the second bed.

"On whose accord?" Luna asked in a neutral yet curious tone. "I don't remember giving you permission to join me."

Marcus's eyes narrowed in confusion for a brief second.

Eventually, he realized Luna indeed never answered his question from last night.

"Sorry, I uh, I got carried away," Marcus said with a tired chuckle as he turned his attention towards Felix.

Marcus planned on asking him for a spare blanket, but Felix was already fast asleep.

"The floor it is then," Marcus said with a yawn as he stepped away from the bunk bed. 

At least it was carpet.