Chapter 16

People stared at Jae and Kristie as they headed home, not used to people holding hands in public. They both stayed silent as Jae tried to calm his breathing.

"You guys are back early," Elias said as they returned home. "Uh-oh, what's wrong?"

Kristie led Jae over to the couch to sit and knelt down in front of him. "Are you okay now? Can you tell me what happened?"

"I'd suggest a support bot, but I don't think we want to bring attention to him."

"I'll be fine..." Jae huffed. "Just flashbacks of the war. I think the sound triggered me."

"Oh, the bang? I'm not even sure what that was. Could've been a broken-down car or something, but it was pretty loud." Kristie thought back. "Wait, you thought the bang was an attack? Your instinct wasn't just to duck down; you brought me with you. You tried to protect me."

"Of course I did." Jae rubbed his chest over his heart, his old wound aching. "I always protect those I care about."

Kristie bit her lip as she tried to hold back from swooning.

"I've heard about this before. It's common in war veterans. PTSD," Elias said as he looked it up on his watch. "At least, that's what it seems like to me. You were wounded in the war, so that increases the chances of getting it. I'm guessing that spot on your chest you're rubbing is where you were wounded?"

Jae nodded. "Didn't think I'd be alive after that. Not that I remember it well. I remember the impact. And I was in and out of consciousness afterwards. I think I heard the shot before it hit me, but there was no time to move."

"That loud noise definitely triggered you. Thankfully, the city is generally quiet; loud noises like that are uncommon."

"Makes you wonder even more what it was, though," Kristie said. "It's the first time I heard something like that." Though I didn't even have time to react before I hit the ground.

"I wasn't there, so I can't help you with that." Elias sat beside Jae on the couch and continued typing on his watch. "No one's made any reports of the loud noise yet, but I'll keep an eye out. Maybe someone knows what it was."

Kristie rubbed Jae's knees to get his attention. "How can I help?"

Jae shook his head. "I think I'm fine now; you don't need to do anything but bear with me. I'm sorry about this."

"You have nothing to be sorry about. Oh! How about some yoga and meditation to classical music? It's known to lower stress."

"Yeah, sure. Do you mind, Eli?"

"Be my guest." Elias got up. "I'm going to work on a few things; I'll be in my room." He took his special tablet with him and sat at his desk. "I shouldn't be going this far for him, but I already have been," he grumbled as he checked on the cameras in the area they had their picnic at the time they told him.

A few of the videos had the loud bang, but nothing in them showed where it came from. "It's almost like there was no reason for it." No stalled cars. No people fighting. No strong winds to knock things around. "Almost like it was fabricated. But why would anyone do that?" Plenty of people looked over at Jae and Kristie both during their walk and the picnic in the park, but no one lingered. "They're disgustingly mushy despite not being a couple yet. Ugh, yet. More of this to come. Do I really want to be around for it?"

He sat back and sighed. "This doesn't make any sense."

"Breath in deeply." Kristie adjusted Jae's form, and couldn't help but smile every time she got close. "Feeling any better? I ordered some more tea, but I'm not sure if it'll help."

"I'm okay, Kristie, thanks. It's hard to have slow movements and hold them like this. I always thought yoga would be easy, but I guess that depends on your flexibility and ability to hold a pose." Jae stretched out as they finished and took a deep breath. "Again, I'm sorry I ruined our date."

"We can always go on another one, another time. In fact, I look forward to it. Sorry to say, but you're interesting to watch since the world is new to you. And you know so much about the past before AI took over. I'm curious to know more." Still wish he didn't have to wear the mask outside, but at least I can see the real him in here.

"Are you sure you'd want to go out with someone who might freak out from a loud noise?" Jae hung his head. "Pathetic, if you ask me."

"It's not pathetic at all. I'm sure if I'd heard gunfire before, I'd react closer to how you did. If I had been shot... I'd probably go catatonic from the sound."

"You don't have to try to make me feel better. I know there are both better and worse responses to this, but I also have to get over it. I'd rather it not ruin another date." He gave her a soft smile.

"Is it weird I don't feel like it was ruined? I had fun. I got to enjoy some food with you and make people outside jealous. I know they'd want to have a picnic date; such a rare occurrence these days."

"Definitely didn't end like I planned."

"Who could plan for that?"

Jae leaned in close and smirked. "You do know how many dates end, right? Well, so long as there's chemistry."

"You set up another one? I don't think we'll wait long on that."

Jae chuckled. "Cute. Maybe things move slower in this time."

Did he just call me cute? "What would you do in your time?" It's not like I have much dating experience, anyway. "Oh!" she gasped as he pulled her close, his arm around her waist as he leaned in close.

"In my time, we end it... with a kiss," he whispered, and his lips met hers.

"I tried, but I couldn't find the source of the sound," Elias said as he came out of his room.

Jae and Kristie jumped away from each other. Kristie bit her lip and stared at the floor as Jae ran his hand through his hair.

"What's with you two? Did I walk in on something?"

"Well..." Jae trailed off.

"You know what? I don't want to know. It's none of my business." He held his hand up.

"But it's your house."

"Right now, it's our house, which means you deserve to have some privacy. It'd be best if you had your own room, but then I'd need to move to a different apartment, and I like where I am." Elias glanced at Kristie.

"I see. It'll probably take some time for me to get used to living... now, so I hope you'll put up with me until I'm able to get my own place." Jae bowed to him.

"Yes, yes; I'm not going to kick you out or anything. Not even if you end up with Kristie," he mumbled the last part. "Stop bowing; it makes me feel weird. Hmm... If we were allowed, I could add a wall here to make another room. The living room is quite big."

"You don't need to go that far. The couch is plenty for me." Jae looked at the mask. "AI gives everyone a home and allowance, right? Will it try to give it to Jay because he's in the system now?"

"It should, but you don't have a working watch for it to contact you yet. It's likely AI created an account for you the moment Jay was registered. If there's something you need—"

"Not yet; I was curious. I'm sorry if I feel all over the place. I'm still trying to figure out what I should do."

"Have you thought of anything? Should I leave you with a tablet open to a test with AI to place you in a career or for a romantic compatibility test?"

"Hey!" Kristie gave Elias a shove.

"I think I'm good on the romance part." Jae smiled at Kristie. "Though I'm not sure if I should be jumping into anything. What would be a career to get me closer to AI?"

"What do you mean by that?" Elias asked.

"To know how it works. I want to find out if it had a hand in releasing me, and if so, why. I also want a way to look into the past. I want to learn what happened to my family and friends."

Elias raised an eyebrow. "Even if it would flag in the system? Or you don't like what you find? You can't change the past, Jae. There's no time travel, though it might feel it to you."

"I know I can't change it, but I can't help but wonder. I want to know if my sister got married and had kids. I want to know if I have family out there..."

"That's all too risky. AI probably figured you'd want to know all that and has an eye on your DNA relatives."

"If AI is as all powerful as you say, then why hasn't it found me? I'm sure I showed up on some of those cameras everywhere when the power came back on."

"Because AI doesn't have a body? It has more than you to worry about?"

"It can do how many processes at once?"

"I... I don't know. What are you suggesting?"

"It's playing with me."