The Things We Lost, Part 5

Caleb and Hope sat uneasily across from Aislinn. They had just learned a surprising fact: that Aislinn had been destroyed and restored from a backup. It was a sobering thought, knowing that, though the person herself seemed unbothered by this revelation.

“It's not a secret, you know,” Aislinn said with a chuckle. “Course, it happened a long time ago, so I doubt anyone else knows much about it. Still, it was a pretty bad situation. A huge landslide basically left me buried alive under a sea of rocks for nearly a week. If they found me any later, it was highly possible that they wouldn't have been able to restore me at all.

“Well, things ended up working out somehow, but in truth, they sort of didn't. I had this sort of feeling, you know? That I wasn't the same person as the Aislinn who had died. Her memories and her life were logged into my head, but in truth, they never felt like my life. I didn't experience them the way she did, and when I remember her memories, I remember them like a movie, rather than something that happened to me.”

The camp fell silent as Caleb and Hope absorbed Aislinn's words. Once she felt a decent amount of time had passed, Aislinn addressed Caleb again. “I hope you understand that Tia's feelings are a little more complex than just anger.”

Caleb did understand. Essentially, Kyle and Ella, even with all their memories back, would never be the same people that she had met so very long ago. They would remember her, yes, but that would be it. There would not be the same sense of camaraderie and companionship that would have been there had they not been destroyed, and she either knew it instinctively, or she found out the hard way – by meeting them herself. It was to avoid such a thing happening that Caleb had distanced himself from the new Kyle and Ella, after all.

“I see,” Caleb sighed as he stood up. “So that's what it's all about, is it?”

“You going somewhere?” Hope asked curiously.

“To bed. It's getting late after all.”

“Caleb,” Aislinn asked worriedly. “About what I've told you... did it make you understand a little bit more about Tia?”

“I suppose. But I have to be honest.”

“What is it?”

“I may respect her work ethic and experience as a remainer, but she's acting far more immaturely than I could ever have expected.”

***

Morning came again, and Caleb and Hope began their morning as they always did. Well, to be honest, that wasn't exactly the case. Hope seemed a little cagier than she usually was, as if she was trying to give him space.

Well, it was true that he wasn't really himself that night. Normally, he'd have tried to be a bit more diplomatic, especially with people he wasn't more acquainted with. Many remainers had approached him with irritation and derision before, but he had always kept himself from losing his patience.

For some reason, things were different with Tia. Maybe it was her attitude, or maybe it was her strongly expressed youth, but for some reason, he could feel his emotions roused more easily when she was brought up. He didn't dislike her – or at the very least, he didn't think he disliked her – but even thinking about her made his mood sour.

If he thought about it, the last time he was this grumpy was when he was working with Hope. Back then, she was incredibly uncooperative, and her lack of concern for his general well-being definitely got on Caleb's nerves. That was a long time ago, however, and nowadays he got along with Hope fairly well, even if she was still fairly prickly. If he was honest, he doubted he ever got as frustrated with her as he was feeling with Tia.

He put the thought out of his mind for now. His talk with Aislinn gave him some insight about what Tia had gone through, and while he felt sympathy for her, he didn't think it particularly warranted her treatment of him. Rather, if she was a little more empathetic, she should have realized that...

He shook his head. Now wasn't the time to think about that. He had a lot of work to do, and considering he was unlikely to meet up with Tia and Aislinn again, he doubted he would have to consider the subject for a long while. It was a little irresponsible, but he could afford a little irresponsibility every now and then.

That being said, he should have known better, as after only an hour of trekking through the area he and Hope found themselves face to face with Tia and Aislinn again. If he had thought it through, he would have known this would have happened, as there were only a few places the two groups had not covered the day before. Judging by Tia's scrunched-up scowl, she wasn't all that excited to see him either.

Before anyone could say anything, Aislinn walked over to Hope and grabbed her arm. “Say Hope, wasn't there something you wanted to talk to me about last night? We couldn't get into it then, but if you want to talk about it now, I have time.”

“Huh? What are you talking abou–”

Aislinn dragged Hope away before she made it too obvious what she was up to. Caleb, who could only muster an exasperated sigh, glanced over at Tia, who was left on her lonesome. “You know, you could always complain to Computer if her doing this bothers you.”

“It's not that big a deal,” Aislinn replied, albeit somewhat irritably. “I'm used to her shenanigans by now.”

Caleb scratched his head. “Well, I should probably apologize.”

“What for?”

“The reason she pulled this stunt today... is probably my fault, after all.”

“What do you mean?” Tia's usual look of disgust was replaced by one of confusion.”

“Er, it doesn't really matter. Why don't we get to work? The faster we get done, the better, yeah?”

Tia nodded. She was surprisingly more agreeable today. Caleb doubted that remainer systems would mimic mood swings, but the possibility popped up in his head anyway.

The two of them began wandering the trees, once again looking for any signs of life. The cloudy sky was once again empty, and no cries or calls echoed in the air. The area they were exploring was a little flatter and less cluttered than some of the other areas they had already searched, and while that made it a little easier to trudge through, it did also make it fairly clear that there weren't any larger animals around. At the very least, there was still a possibility of small animals that were burrowed in the ground, so there was still merit in doing a thorough search.

The search this time went a lot faster than it did before. This was largely due to Tia actually being more cooperative this time around, though she still said not a word to Caleb, merely responding with grunts and huffs. It was definitely better than when she was outright ignoring him, but even so, he was surprised at the sudden change in demeanor. Maybe she didn't want Aislinn to think they weren't getting along? Well, no matter what, he doubted she'd ever actually tell him.

To his surprise, however, the first person to attempt a conversation was Tia, who glanced over at him with an apprehensive expression. “You're not going to ask me anything?”

“What do you mean?” Caleb asked, genuinely uncertain as to exactly what she was talking about.

“Don't play coy with me. I know Aislinn told you everything.”

Caleb sighed. “I guess she's got a reputation for being a big mouth if you figured it out so quickly.”

“I just know my partner's penchant for nosiness.”

Caleb cleared the shattered bark off of a nearby stump and sat down. “Well, I don't know what you want me to say about that. Do you want an apology? You know that situation wasn't my fault.”

“I know.”

“Then what do you want me to say? Should I just be blunt and say that you've got some nerve to treat me like this knowing what I've gone through?”

“What does that mean?” Tia stopped walking and glared at Caleb. “You think I'm treating you unfairly or something?”

“Aren't you? You spent all day ignoring me, and even now you've still got a foul look on your face. You couldn't be less gracious if you tried.”

“Well, excuse me. I'm doing my best, but it's not like I can control what I feel.”

“So?” Caleb asked after taking a swig from his canteen. “Are you gonna explain yourself, then?”

“Explain myself?”

“You said you didn't blame me for that incident. So why are you so frustrated with me?”

“I'm not frustrated with you.”

“Then you're annoyed with me. The word doesn't matter. You know what I'm talking about, so don't avoid the subject.”

Tia sighed. “You don't have to be so nosy, do you? You were perfectly happy with leaving it be before.”

“Well, when are we ever going to get this chance again? You might as well be honest and open up for once.”

“What a persuasive argument,” Tia scowled sarcastically. “I suppose you think it's that easy, is it?”

“Maybe not. But it certainly doesn't have to be hard.”