PMC1 - Hex and Maxwell
Jun. 11th, 2023 05:59 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
just_hexIt was after midnight and outside there was a miserable rain, too hot to be refreshing. Hex sat inside the People's Med Center 1, a free clinic for folks without credits, or perhaps some legal reason they couldn't go to the actual Hospital, and once in a while a genuine emergency. Tonight he'd seen a woman who's baby had a bad cough and a man whose implant had gotten infected. It was black market, of course.
Hex had helped them both, then settled into his chair behind the desk to wait and watch the old CRT TV hooked to an ancient VCR. The phone was a corded landline. Even the computer they kept records on was a dinosaur.
The Center was set up that wa in purpose. Most people, the ones that knew it existed at all, assumed they lacked funding. The funding wasn't the issue. Security was the issue.
They'd been thrilled to have Hex come aboard. The field medic knew how to do most anything with the lowest tech possible. And he liked doing it. Helping people without options was something he could do in a world where he saw so much wrong in the system.
Hex had helped them both, then settled into his chair behind the desk to wait and watch the old CRT TV hooked to an ancient VCR. The phone was a corded landline. Even the computer they kept records on was a dinosaur.
The Center was set up that wa in purpose. Most people, the ones that knew it existed at all, assumed they lacked funding. The funding wasn't the issue. Security was the issue.
They'd been thrilled to have Hex come aboard. The field medic knew how to do most anything with the lowest tech possible. And he liked doing it. Helping people without options was something he could do in a world where he saw so much wrong in the system.
no subject
Date: 2023-06-13 12:31 pm (UTC)"Perhaps," Max said, though he didn't seem convinced of that fact. In his opinion, kindness was often a weakness.
no subject
Date: 2023-06-13 06:14 pm (UTC)"You'd be surprised how right I am," he chuckled.
no subject
Date: 2023-06-13 06:28 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-06-13 07:30 pm (UTC)Hex tossed his cup in the sink and nodded for Max to join him in the bedroom. He shamelessly dropped the towel to pull on some pyjamas, then melted into bed.
no subject
Date: 2023-06-13 07:42 pm (UTC)Max nodded slightly, following along.
Hex was so chatty- It was nice. Max never said much himself, but he sort of liked listening to others speak. It was a reminder that the world wasn't only made up of bastards.
Without thinking too much about it, he started to undress, leaving his clothes draped over a chair. Pale skin was marked with old wounds and fresh bruises. Scars and marks wove a tale of a violent past, from what looked like small burns, to what was definitely a healed bullet wound. It also put a few of his enhancements on display, including an old fashioned cart port. A tiny thing just above his hip that once had been used to run fantasy programs at the sex clubs in New Soho. They had been banned years ago, replaced with sex bots, holograms, and augmented reality. Maxwell had apparently never had his removed though, and given how long it had been since they'd been banned, he'd likely had it installed quite young.
no subject
Date: 2023-06-13 09:11 pm (UTC)Hex watched him undress and noticed the port. His eyes widened.
"Say, those are rare," he said. "Is it still functioning?"
His interest had little to do with using it. He had shelf space for a port like that...
no subject
Date: 2023-06-13 09:16 pm (UTC)Max put a hand over it, almost defensive.
"It works perfectly," he said quietly.
It also explained his miss-matched upgrades. Everything installed had some kind of backwards support for the banned port- Even if some had to be activated manually.
no subject
Date: 2023-06-13 09:24 pm (UTC)"If you ever want to sell it, let me know. We can even remove it safely," he said.
He budged up a little when he realized he was all over the bed.
"...Do you, erm, use it?" he asked curiously.
no subject
Date: 2023-06-13 09:36 pm (UTC)Max hesitated, then slowly settled on the other side of the bed.
"I do. I've learned to make custom cartridges even."
It helped, he found, when it came to hunting down men who wished to do others harm. The kind of men not shy about throwing a punch were the same sort who seemed to think there was nothing hotter than a living sex toy.
no subject
Date: 2023-06-13 09:54 pm (UTC)"Boss," he replied. "I've never had any head for coding. Always wanted to, but the lines get jumbled in me eyes. I met a bloke who had one at a club. I thought it sounded amazing. Safer now, augmented reality...not the same, though..."
no subject
Date: 2023-06-13 11:05 pm (UTC)"They're becoming rare. Not meant to have one," Max noted, settling on his side and watching Hex.
Most men he wound up in bed were salivating when they saw it, demanding a go. Not Hex though. That was interesting.
no subject
Date: 2023-06-13 11:16 pm (UTC)"They outlawed them a while ago. You must have been young," he noted.
No judgment.
"I mean, I was only sixteen when the Army fixed me up," he added, a sweet, lopsided smile curving his mouth as he rolled his arm to show Max the scar of the nanite injection site. "...Not the same, I know..."
no subject
Date: 2023-06-13 11:22 pm (UTC)"Just a different kind of survival," Max assured him. "You'd be surprised how alike it likely is."
Reaching, slender fingers touched the injection site. It was gentle, and his hands were cold.
no subject
Date: 2023-06-13 11:55 pm (UTC)"Do you ever regret it? I don't. It got me out, yeah?" he said, looking down to where Max's fingers chilled his skin.
no subject
Date: 2023-06-14 12:05 am (UTC)"I didn't have a say," Max shrugged, withdrawing his hand and getting comfortable.
"You should rest. You worked late. ...I wont touch anything," he promised.
no subject
Date: 2023-06-14 12:18 am (UTC)"Aw, mate...touch anything you like," Hex chuckled as he rolled over and settled in.
In just a little more than a minute and he was already asleep. Hard asleep.
no subject
Date: 2023-06-14 12:25 am (UTC)Max watched him for a while, studying his breathing, the sounds he made. Part of him wanted to sleep as well, but he knew he wouldn't. He'd had a few hours at the clinic, and he rarely got more than that.
Eventually he did get up, wandering around the man's home and taking it all in. True to his word, he touched nothing, only observing.
Picking up the bag of food he'd been given, he picked through, finding a small bag of protein chips and deciding to open them. Sitting on the floor he jacked in and started to catch up with the day's news. It wasn't sleep, but it could have been, the way he shut down completely.
no subject
Date: 2023-06-14 12:40 am (UTC)At 4 in the afternoon, an ancient alarm clock went off. The clacker beat against two bells, shattering any thought of more sleep.
Hex reached for it and shut it off. He carefully sat it down, then got up to go to the loo. Next he hit the kitchen to grab an energy drink.
He'd assumed Max had gotten some sleep and left when he didn't see him, and so was not expecting to find him there, jacked in.
Hex shrieked.
no subject
Date: 2023-06-14 12:54 am (UTC)Max slowly registered a noise outside his little virtual world, eyes opening slowly as he returned to reality.
"Sorry. I'll go," he said, getting to his feet and reaching for his shirt. Such a dramatic reaction to such a normal thing surely meant he was no longer welcome.
no subject
Date: 2023-06-14 01:02 am (UTC)"Nah, mate. You're fine. I thought you already had, is all. Didn't expect you there," he said, laughing off the rest of the shock.
"I've got to hit the gym, then I've got a fight tonight. You're welcome to hang about. You'll be alone, but there's a connection and food," he offered.
no subject
Date: 2023-06-14 01:20 am (UTC)"Are you sure? I don't... I should probably leave," he decided. "Maybe I'll see you again sometime."
He gathered his things, then hesitated. "I work here," he said, pulling out a flyer for the club. "Come after your fight, I can give you a free drink," he offered.
no subject
Date: 2023-06-14 01:45 am (UTC)Hex read it, then gave a nod.
"I'll see you then," he agreed.
He got ready to work out and walked Max down to the street where he said his goodbyes.
When he walked into the club, it was a different story. He'd lost the fight, and good. But he'd made a mint betting it all. He'd known he was going to lose, and figgered he may as well get paid.
He'd given it his all.
Hex walked in with his eye swollen shut and a bloody gash in a puffed up lip above a livid purple jaw. He scanned the room to see if he could spot Max.
no subject
Date: 2023-06-14 01:55 am (UTC)Input was quiet tonight, and Max noticed Hex the moment he walked in. He could see, Rivet starting to head his way, but Max gently caught her arm to stop her, leaning in and explaining he was a friend.
Input wasn't nice, not really, but it offered a service few places were brave enough to anymore. Live human companions who'd sit with you and drink. The rules said no sex, but that was for the law, not the customers. Everyone knew that if you slipped your companion a few credits there was a place in the back...
Grabbing two beers, he intercepted Hex and guided him to a table.
"Not your night, looks like. Unless the other man looks worse," he said, handing Hex a beer.
no subject
Date: 2023-06-14 02:32 am (UTC)"I gave as good as I got. Until I couldn't anymore," he said, in good cheer despite his wounds.
Hex gladly took the beer and settled into the seat, leaning back and spreading his legs wide.
"I made a killing, though. Sometimes it's worth it, taking a beating."
no subject
Date: 2023-06-14 02:34 am (UTC)"Sometimes," Max agreed. "Do you want some ice? I might have a med inhaler. Would take the swelling down."
(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From: