Blend 14

Clara sipped on her flat white. Even though she had been making coffee for the customers now, this one was made by Hachi. He had somewhat warmed up to Clara. When she had first met him, he was cold and reserved. Now, he was a lot warmer, at least to her. He was still pretty cold to most customers. Clara stared down at her half-drunk mug.

“Hachi, what do you see when you look at this mug?”

“I see a flat white.”

“No, I mean, how would you describe it?”

“A flat white is a particular form of coffee…”

“I’m not talking about the coffee itself,” she cut him off. “Say you have a glass.”

“We are doing an espresso?”

“I said forget about the coffee for a moment.”

Hachi bit his tongue. He couldn’t simply forget about coffee. He tried for a split moment, but the loss of coffee in his heart instantly crushed his soul. He wanted to die. He pushed those thoughts out of his head once again and was reminded of the joys of coffee.

“Do you think this mug is half full or half empty?” Clara asked.

“I don’t know. I would look at it and say it is a flat white.”

“But I want to know if you look at things positively or negatively. Are you a pockets or faux pocket person?” She whined, and Hachi was reminded why he hated to humour her questions.

“You’re not going to be able to psychoanalyse someone based on whether they say a cup of coffee is half full or half empty,” Hachi sighed. People were far more complicated than something you could observe based on statements alone. Body language, attitudes, and the performative actions people do without even a moment of thought. Those are the sorts of things that could build a person’s profile. Not whether a cup of coffee was half full or half empty.

“But say you have half a cup of coffee. How do you feel?”

“Caffeinated mostly,” Hachi responded, already bored of this conversation.

“Hachi!”

The chime of the bell saved Hachi from Clara’s onslaught of complaints. A man with messy brown hair, a lab coat and thick round glasses that didn’t mask the bags under the man’s eyes. Just based on this initial observation, Hachi could tell this customer would be exhausting to deal with.

“Welcome to 8-Blends. What can we get for you today?” Clara asked the man.

“Could I order two espressos?” He replied as he slumped over the counter.

“Have here? Or takeaway?”

“Have here. I need a nap anyway.”

“Um… Certainly, we can do that. Take a seat anywhere.”

Hachi had been leaving the coffee-making to Clara for the last few days; he thought he might do this one. It would also give him an excuse to slack off later if the guy got too much.

“Are you rewarding yourself?” Hachi asked as he began making the first coffee. He couldn’t imagine any other reason to have two.

“No, I need it to get through my day.”

“That’s fair.” Hachi was glad the conversation seemed to end here. Or so he thought.

“I’m a bit reluctant to explain why.”

“That’s okay; you don’t need to share…” He once again tried to stop the conversation before it started.

“But I suppose I should say.”

“No, really, you don’t have to…”

“You see, I work as a biochemist.”

“Cool,” Hachi replied, though he honestly didn’t care.

“I’ve been spending countless evenings trying to find a cure for ADV.”

Although Hachi still wished for the conversation to end, this mention piqued his interest. A cure for ADV would certainly be worth knowing about.

“How’s that going?”

“Pretty hopeless; it’s been mostly failures,” he sighed.

If the cure was all failures, then there was no reason for Hachi to listen. He stopped caring again.

“You said mostly failures,” Clara added, setting the water at his table and offering him a copy of the menu. “Does that mean some are no failures?”

Hachi was interested again.

“Well, I shouldn’t say.”

Hachi lost interest again.

“But I guess I’ll tell you.”

Hachi was getting a headache.

“We haven’t had success yet, but we have some promising leads,” he commented.

“What are the odds of making a vaccine?” Clara asked.

“Do you want the optimistic statement or the realistic one?”

“Well, you’re the expert, so why don’t you just say?” She retorted.

“Well, I would like to think we can manage. We have all the experts in the world working on one. There is no limit on money. The only limitations are our own bodies. The need for sleep and the occasional team member succumbing to ADV.”

“I never thought about the people making a vaccine dying while making it.”

“We’ve lost a few in our lab, though all our research is open access. That way, if someone dies, their knowledge isn’t lost,” he replied.

“That’s clever.”

“I guess it’s just a marvel of the world we live in.”

“Though perhaps being connected isn’t always so black and white. Although it helps with research, it is also the cause for everyone being infected with ADV.” Hachi commented as he served the two espressos.

“That’s correct. Luckily, you can only get ADV once.”

“I don’t know if getting ADV, even one, is a thing to celebrate. Anyway, you never answered my question. What’s the chance for a vaccine?” Clara retorted.

“Well, if I had to give a percentage…”

Haci leaned in. Clara leaned in.

“I would say it’s about a fifty-fifty chance.”

Clara took the fifty-fifty odds to be favourable. There was a chance that there would be a cure. Hachi, on the other hand, saw it as futile. There was only a fifty percent chance they would find a cure. He may as well give up the last bit of hope he had. He may as well focus on what he loves. Coffee.

They left the man to drink and take a nap. After a while, his phone buzzed, jolting him awake. He quickly paid and left.

“That’s good news, isn’t it?” Clara commented.

“What?” Hachi seemed unsure what good news she was talking about.

“About the vaccines.”

“What good news?”

“That there is a fifty percent chance that they will find a cure.”

“What’s good about that?”

“That they may find a cure!” Clara had no idea why Hachi was so depressed about it. Those were great odds. Much better than what she had heard. Scientists were always cautious, so a vaccine may actually be a lot closer than the man was letting on.

“That’s a fifty percent chance they don’t,” Hachi commented. Surprised sh was getting her hopes up for a futile dream and not living in the moment.

“Hachi…”

“Yeah?”

“You’re a glass-half-empty person.”

∘•········ʚ ♡ ɞ ········•∘

End of Chapter 14