6

Countdown: 172 Days Remaining.

“I found what you asked for,” Rui said, walking over to Makoto. He pulled the respirator down to reveal the bottom half of his face. “I couldn’t get much though, since Kichijouji's been picked over quite thoroughly.” He held out his backpack, already unlatched.

“Thanks,” Makoto said. He accepted the bag and looked through the contents, pleased to find several malleable neon bulbs and a small coil of mismatched wires. It would help replace what he had used a few days ago. “Did the nutrition vials refill?”

Rui slipped Makoto’s backpack off his shoulders and checked the vials. “Almost,” he said. “It should suffice, but I can go out again if you think they need to be full.”

Makoto looked at the one Rui held out and nodded, “That’ll be fine. How are the extras going?”

“Almost overflowing.”

“Good. Another few of those and we’ll be able to leave for at least a couple days.”

Rui squatted beside him, watching Makoto organize the wires by type and usage. Once they were all wound back together, he pulled out his multitool and a few of the neon bulbs. Changing the tool to a threaded needle, he copied Rui’s outfit by sewing the bulbs into the wrists of his sleeves and the ankles of his pants. The heat was gentle enough that it didn’t burn, but warm enough to help maintain homeostasis.

“How’s the recovery?” Rui asked, looking Makoto up and down as though he could tell from appearance alone.

“Good enough,” Makoto said.

It had been slower than Makoto would like. Although the pain was manageable, the tightness of the cauterized tissue hindered his mobility, keeping him bedridden, like Sumire.

At least now I understand her desperation to go outside, even though that might not be possible anytime soon. She had been doing well, but with the looming threat of her tissue necrotizing again, it wouldn’t be safe for her to waste energy.

“So, where are we going, once you’re fully recovered?” Rui asked.

He’d been helping keep the camp running while Makoto was out of commission, taking over his usual scavenging duties. It had taken a great deal of effort for Makoto to feel comfortable trusting Rui, but after several days, he no longer doubted Rui’s sincerity. Even a chameleon had one true skin.

“Once we have enough nutrition stored to leave the camp for a few days, I was hoping to get back to looking for the Rebel’s hideout,” Makoto said, glancing up to check Rui’s reaction.

A smile inched across Rui’s face. “I had a feeling you’d want to do more than simply scavenge for the rest of your days,” he said, grinning. “I knew I was right about you.” Excitement sparkled in his eyes.

“Was this something you wanted to do?” Makoto asked, raising an eyebrow at Rui’s giddy response. “You could have said something earlier, you know.”

“Because we’re partners?” Rui asked hopefully.

“Because we’re partners.” Makoto looked down, trying to hide his embarrassment. If it weren’t for his injury, he wouldn’t need a partner. He’d worked alone his whole life, struggling to overcome obstacles, to prove his worth, so he couldn’t quite acclimate to the idea of having someone else to rely on.

Rui plopped down beside him, handing Makoto one of the nutrition vials. Makoto took it gratefully, and downed the tasteless liquid in a single swallow. It coursed through him as a gentle heat, somewhat similar to adrenaline, but with no immediate call to action.

“Can I ask you something?” Rui said, leaning against a nearby pillar. Makoto nodded, and he continued with, “What else have you altered? There was your heart and…?”

“My right ear. It got badly burnt when I was little, so it was replaced with a mechanical one.” He touched the appendage now, noting how the temperature was a little cooler than the rest of his body. Otherwise, it would be impossible to tell that the ear wasn’t organic. As was the case with most altered organs, it perfectly replicated the ear he’d originally had, down to the texture of his skin and the small mole on the cartilage.

“And that’s it? No other enhancements?” Rui asked. When Makoto shook his head, Rui’s eyes widened. “You’re almost Pure then, aren’t you.” It wasn’t a question.

Makoto chuckled. “That’s the first time I’ve heard that. Usually people balk at my having a mechanical heart.”

Rui shrugged. “Seems pretty convenient. I mean, doesn’t it make you practically immortal or something?”

That made Makoto look up from his sewing to give Rui a confused look. “Not even close.” Does he not understand how mechanical organs work?  “A mechanical heart takes more energy than anything else.”

Rui seemed unfazed. “But you survived a bullet to the chest.”

“Barely survived.”

He shrugged again, giving Makoto a half smile. “Still seems pretty cool to me.”

Makoto shook his head and turned back to his sewing, but he couldn’t help the small smile tugging at the corners of his lips. “So if we’re trading war stories,” Makoto said, “What about your eye? What did you do?”

Rui cocked his head to one side. “What do you mean?”

“Why did you need it replaced? Did you get in a fight again?”

He scoffed. “Excuse you with the ‘again.’ What do I look like to you? A delinquent?” Makoto could hear how hard Rui worked to keep his voice even, trying not to laugh. He was forcing the defensiveness a little too much, giving it the opposite effect.

“You held your own in that fight the other day.” Having finished the legs of his pants, Makoto unzipped his jacket and pulled it off to work on the sleeves.

“Especially compared to you, who didn’t land a single punch. You fight worse than an elementary schooler.”

“I wasn’t trying to land a punch,” Makoto mumbled. “I took an oath never to hurt anyone when I got into medical school.” I could never hurt someone, not again. I can’t have that tainted blood on my hands.

The jovial atmosphere between them dropped as though someone had plunged the pair into ice water. Rui shifted beside Makoto, fidgeting with the wires beside him, and cleared his throat. “Well, to answer your question about my eye, I had it altered to cheat on tests. I could snoop on the smart kid’s tablet without ever moving my eyes, so the teacher had no idea.”

“So it was an unsavory reason,” Makoto teased, trying to revive the easy banter they’d had before. This was the first time Rui opened up to him, and he didn’t want to ruin the moment.

“Hey, everyone in my class was getting altered. At least I found a useful reason for mine. Some people just wanted their eyes changed to replace colored contacts, you know.”

Makoto couldn’t stop himself from looking up again, right in the middle of trying to position the needle for the next stitch. He studied Rui’s face in disbelief, searching for a sign that he was joking, but found no deception, only confusion. “You mean people had organs removed for fun?”

Rui blinked and nodded, raising an eyebrow. “You’d never heard of that? Almost everyone in my school had something done, whether it was their eyes, or athletes often did their lungs so they had better breath capacity. Some people did their hands to write faster, or their arms to be stronger, or legs to run faster.” He lowered his voice to add, “I even heard some people altered their brains to improve their memory or get databases implanted so they didn’t have to study.”

Makoto shook his head. “I can’t imagine going through all that trouble just to get out of studying.”

“I take it you were one of the rare specimens who enjoyed studying?”

“Not particularly, but I’ve seen a lot of botched brain operations, especially when they mess with the prefrontal cortex.” When Rui gave him a blank look, he clarified, “The memory part of the brain. It’s a very fragile operation, and not usually recommended unless absolutely necessary.”

“So is there any part of the brain you can mess with?”

Makoto shrugged and told Rui about the men they’d fought having removed the anterior cingulate cortex to inhibit pain perception, then he dropped the finished sleeve of his jacket and lay down, exhaustion getting the better of him. “There, the preparations are done. Now as soon as I’m recovered, we can get going to the hideout.”

“I’ll head out and scout for some information then,” Rui said, standing.

Despite his reluctance to let Rui go out alone unnecessarily, Makoto held back his protests. He had no right to tell anyone else what to do, let alone someone he’d only met a few days ago. “Be careful,” was all he said to Rui’s back as the boy walked away, giving Makoto a curt but friendly wave in response.

As Makoto started to drift off, he noticed Granny giving him a knowing look and a small smile. Sleepily, he asked, “What is it?”

“It just warms this old lady’s heart to see you have a friend. I worry about you kids sometimes, so I’m glad to see you’re not alone anymore, Makoto. You’re no longer shouldering the entire burden of this camp.” She looked down at the bundle of blankets burying Sumire, and added, “And he’s been good to her, too.”

Makoto nodded, but he couldn’t think of the right words to respond. A warm feeling enveloped him as sleep carried him off.

Countdown: 167 Days Remaining.

“That should suffice for a few days, I think,” Makoto said, looking at the surplus he and Rui had gathered for the camp. While Makoto was recovering, Rui had collected multiple vials of nutrition for each member of the camp, working the generator to the max to create enough stores to last for over a week.

The main concern was maintenance, should someone need it. Makoto had spent an entire day checking everyone’s organs to see if any needed touch-ups before he left, and all looked fine, but Sumire was always the greatest concern. What looked fine one minute could be falling apart the next, and he was reluctant to leave her.

“You know, I think we can afford to leave the kids alone for a few days,” Rui said playfully. “Have a little adventure of our own for once.”

“Why are you treating me like I’m the mom of this group?” Makoto asked, trying to keep the amusement off his face. He’d grown accustomed to Rui’s personality, and saw the shifts as nuances instead of deception.

“Are you trying to convince me you’re not?” Rui asked, raising an eyebrow in disbelief. His face lit up every time he smiled, and his real eye always seemed to shine a little brighter than the fake one. “You take care of everyone here, and you worry about them more than yourself. If that doesn’t scream “mom”, I don’t know what does.”

“Then what does that make you?”

“Obviously, I’m the cool uncle who babysits the kids on occasion and lets them run amok all over the house.”

Makoto nodded. “That fits.”

He’d especially come to appreciate how well Rui could almost read his mind. Every time Makoto worried about something, Rui turned the situation into a lighthearted joke.

This was especially evident as he said, “Don’t worry about it; Granny will take care of Sumire, and the others can handle themselves for a few days. I’m sure even Shu can refrain from burning the camp down while you’re out.”

“Getting anything here to burn would actually be useful,” Makoto said. “I wouldn’t be mad if he managed to start a little bonfire somewhere.” He looked over at the boy, who was napping beside one of the pillars. In his sleep, he looked almost peaceful -- when he was awake was the real issue, but Granny could handle his hot temper.

She really seems to have experience with kids, he thought, looking over at her. I wonder if she had any grandchildren before the uprising, anyone to take care of.

He’d seen Granny around his town, but had never thought to ask her name. Now she no longer remembered that or anything else about her life, though the amnesia didn’t seem to bother her. She’d said she preferred not remembering whether she had a family before the uprising, because at least there was nobody to miss now.

She caught him looking and gave Makoto a quizzical look. He tried to smile back, but the expression felt forced, so he dropped it quickly, along with his gaze.

Before he could start another awkward staring contest, Rui grabbed his arm and tugged him towards the ladder. “Come on Mama Bear, it’s time to go.”

“One more mom joke out of you and I’ll poke your real eye out,” Makoto said, pulling his arm away.

Rui raised both hands in surrender, but the smile on his face gave away that he knew it wasn’t a real threat. He continued toward the ladder, seemingly confident that Makoto would follow without further protest.

And with one last look around the camp, Makoto did.