Someone To Be Around

“Hey Avery! Looking good, my dude!”

“Hey man! Hows it going?”

“Oh my stars, is that the new potter? He’s such a cutie!”

Avery’s face got hotter and his nerves became more frayed as he walked through the quad. The fact he had to cover his face only made Kazumi laugh harder. “Yo dude, why are you hiding away, bro? There’s no need, you know? It doesn’t matter how much you want it to disappear, the awards stay up for a whole week! How cool is that?”

Avery groaned loudly. If he had known taking up Kazumi’s offer to participate in Dome life would result in him getting this much attention, he definitely would’ve refused. He fought the urge to run away as multiple hands pat him on the shoulder as he walked. “The handle is lopsided, the paintwork is patchy and I couldn’t get the gold trim to stick. I don’t know why it’s getting so much attention. It’s weird.”

“Oh, come on Avery. Do you know how long it took me to even make a piece of pottery that can stand upright? A few months! Everyone is really impressed with you. To be able to do what you did in three days is really impressive, bro. Take the compliment.”

“I concur,” Gee said as he rested underneath Avery’s arm. “Statistically, only ten percent of the members in pottery have been able to produce a moderately competent jug on their first try. It is, in fact, a reason to be impressed. Though I understand your reluctance given your social difficulties.”

“Thank you Gee. At least someone gets it.” He eyed Kazumi mischievously.

“I’m just trying to help!” Kazumi threw up her hands in mock frustration. “Do you want me to tell you it’s bad?”

“Yes, I would. All of this attention is making me uncomfortable.”

“Too bad, I ain’t gonna.”

Avery’s head sunk, but a small smile crossed his face. For the first time in a long time, perhaps ever, he had found a place where it felt like he could succeed. The trio reached the pottery area and Avery took his seat at the wheel.

Molding pottery felt natural to him. He enjoyed the tactile smoothness of the clay. When he was at the pottery wheel, he could clear his mind. It seemed that the days he would spend all day in Dorian’s shadow, or trying to control his father’s temper, or both, were behind him.

He still didn’t appreciate the gold, bent, clay monstrosity being broadcast for everyone to see, though.

“I am glad you are doing well Avery.” Gee was perched in the room's corner on a wooden stool. The first day in pottery merited him with a welcome red stripe painted on by a visiting artist. Avery attempted to wash it off, only for Gee to declare it was “in vogue.” He had no choice but to leave it there.

“Yeah its…Yeah.” He couldn't find the words, but he knew what he wanted to say, that he was at peace. He didn't know where Dorian was but, as cruel as it sounded, he didn't care right now. He was surprised it didn't take him very long to realise that Dorian was one of the powerful currents that just kept pulling him along, forcing him to do whatever he wished. There were no hard feelings. Of course, it was just that, given the choice, Avery thought he would like to stay.

It's amazing what three days of self imposed solitude can do for you.

Or at least he would think that if a giant handful of clay hadn't been flung directly at his face.

“Hellooooooo, anyone in there?” Kazumi said, beaming. “Let me guess, you were daydreaming being in the rain? No, thundery skies that represent the turmoil of your soul? No, the futility of existence? Come on! Tell me I'm close.”

“No, I was… I was actually thinking about how much I liked it here. It's nice, peaceful.”

“No way! Avery Grove thinking something positive? Are my circuits broken? Is this the end? Am I going to die!?”

“Shut up.” Avery returned the favour and threw a clump back at his friend, only for her to deflect it with her palm. “Oh, really? I’m never gonna win one, am I?”

“You’re not worried about your friend, though? The one you came with?” Kazumi was pensive. He really hoped this didn't derail the good time they were having.

“Dorian? Not really, he's always been the leader. He doesn't need me right now. If I'm honest, he’s probably on some kind of grand adventure that is too physically and/or emotionally draining for me. I'm sure he's fine, besides if he wanted to find me, he could.”

“I know, but I just don’t want you to feel you need to choose between two things. You can do whatever you want.”

“I know the rules of this place.” Avery smiled. “By the way, how did you manage to block my attack? I swear I was close enough to get you. That was pretty cool.”

"Kazumi shrugged, blushing, “robots.”

“Oh, yeah, robots.”

“I would advise not waste clay on such pointless activities. Resources are not finite. The total amount of clay in the Dome has decreased by zero point zero two percent because of your recreational use.”

“Geez, such a buzz kill.”

"I k-know right?”

“Ah dang it! You stuttered. Did I say something wrong? I’m always putting my foot in my mouth.”

“No, I…” it was confusing. Avery didn't know why his communication became difficult. Nothing bad was happening, there was nothing going wrong. He wasn't even feeling a bunch of negative emotions. It was…

Excitement. He was excited to do something, be around someone, and someone wanted to be with him. No strings attached, no wild adventures, just existing.

Existing was nice.

He had pictured having a life like this for years. Friends, a purpose. Now, in the unlikeliest of places and in the strangest of circumstances. He finally had it.

“I’m totally fine.”

The friends turned to Gee, deadpan as ever, and burst into laughter.

***

“So, what are you gonna do now?” Kazumi asked.” It was a nice sunny spring day and, as much as the pair loved pottery, they couldn’t spend all day around oppressive heat and loud machinery. Kazumi had noticed Avery’s distress and promptly shoved him outside.

“I’m not sure. I know you would expect that kind of answer from me, but I genuinely don't know. It's a little uncomfortable having a big decision to make. I'm not used to it.”

“Ah, used to the fam doing stuff for ya? I get it, no judgement. It must be hard to decide when you spent your entire life just doing whatever everyone else says. We don't have that problem. We've always been independent individual units, outside of doing our creative tasks, of course. Some people would complain we don't have freedom because we're still forced to do a particular thing, but when I'm not doing pottery, I can do whatever I like. I consider that to be pretty free.”

“Yeah, but that's what I mean. I don't know how to do any of it. I should be really eager and ready to begin a new life, but I feel knowing these things makes you a person. I really want to know how to live independently, but it's one of those questions that makes you look really stupid if you ask it outright.”

“No, it doesn’t you silly boy,” Kazumi tore a piece of her sandwich and threw it at him. “If everyone had that kind of attitude, nobody would get anything done. Can you imagine a world where we're all just paralysed to speak because we think we're gonna be stupid? I may sound like Mai here, but life is a problem to be solved, and it's more easily achieved the more people you have on the case.”

“So you never worry about failure?”

“Didn’t say that, bud. Life is for living, ain’t it? If one day you failed trying to make a bowl, or can't quite get your vision out for a design, no one's gonna come and stab you. Everything is about trial and error, you know?”

“I guess, but sometimes I feel like I can't escape. It's an ever present feeling. It crushes your brain and whispers in your ear. It knows you're going to fail before you do, and it sounds so convincing. I know people just say to cheer up and go outside but, we don't live in the old times anymore, it's not that simple.”

“I get that.” Kazumi furrowed her brow. “In a way it is, though. Think about the progress that you've made in the past couple of days. I don't know you that well. Still, I'm pretty sure that there's no way that you could've engaged in a conversation with lots of people, even if I was there to help you, before this. That's progress, and that's something to be proud of.”

“I suppose.”

“No dude, no suppose about it. I'm telling you, you're going to make something of yourself, because I believe in you.”

Avery felt a pressure behind the eyes. “Why?”

“Well… Because, you know? You're smart, and good at pottery, and…I like your freckles?”

“T-Thanks!”

“Easy there jumpy. It's just a compliment. Don't pee yourself.”

“Right…Yeah, obviously.”

“So, now we've had that little chat, do you have any idea about what you're going to do?”

“I think…I’m going to stay.”

“Brilliant! Kazumi leapt from her seat and hugged Avery. He froze, motionless in her arms. “Shit! Sorry, I did it again.”

“Don’t move.”

“Huh?”

“Please don’t move.”

Avery placed his head on Kazumi’s shoulder. He wanted to stay there forever. He wondered if these were the type of questions it was okay to ask. He decided against it, and that decision brought him great pain.

Literally.

In what seemed like a second, his world went from a dream to a nightmare. Something was happening inside the Dome. All the alarms were going off, and the interior was blanketed with thick, flashing red.

The panic wasn't what got him, it was the splitting headache that followed. Avery collapsed to the floor holding his head. Different images flashed in his mind.

"A Droid being beaten by its owner, the Mayor?"

Other robots being beaten by people he knew. He saw his father hit a robot with a pipe while a woman watched on crying, a baby in her arms.

“That’s Mum…and me?”

The final image came. A Droid at the head of an army tells a woman to surrender. She refuses, purple ponytail. swinging defiantly in the wind. The Droid gives a final warning.

She does not heed it.

She is killed.

Avery came to with a sharp breath, tears stinging his eyes. To his surprise, he fell forwards. There was nothing to hold on to anymore.

Kazumi was next to him, lying motionless. They all were. Every inhabitant of the Dome lay still on the ground

Shaking, he grabbed Gee from the table. “What’s going on?”

“He is coming.”

“Who is? You had it too, right? The vision?”

“My master is coming to take me back. I do not want to go back.”

“What do we do?”

“I will protect you. You must only ask. I am here for you.”

“What do you mean?”

“I will protect you.”

Unsure of what to do, Avery looked around. There was nothing apart from red and sleeping bodies. He couldn't give up now. He needed to make a decision.

Grabbing Gee, he made a move towards the main entrance when something caught his eye. Someone was trapped in one of the meditation rooms, banging furiously on the door.

He would recognise that purple hat anywhere.

When Dorian locked eyes with Avery through the layers of padding and glass, he saw nothing but a cold, hard stare.