just_hex | PMC1 - Hex and Maxwell

It 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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

just_hex

"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.

From:

511v3r_h4mm3r

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.

From:

just_hex

"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..."

From:

511v3r_h4mm3r

"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.

From:

just_hex

"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..."

From:

511v3r_h4mm3r

"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.

From:

just_hex

"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.

From:

511v3r_h4mm3r

"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.

From:

just_hex

"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.

From:

511v3r_h4mm3r

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.

From:

just_hex

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.

From:

511v3r_h4mm3r

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.

From:

just_hex

"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.

From:

511v3r_h4mm3r

"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.

From:

just_hex

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.

From:

511v3r_h4mm3r

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.

From:

just_hex

"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."

From:

511v3r_h4mm3r

"Sometimes," Max agreed. "Do you want some ice? I might have a med inhaler. Would take the swelling down."

From:

just_hex

"Nah, nanos will have me sorted by the time me shift in the clinic ends in the morning. I could eat something, though. Is there food here?" he asked.

Hex scanned the room, slowly realizing exactly what sort of club this was.

From:

511v3r_h4mm3r

"Nothing you'd want to eat," Max assured him. "Oh, there might be nuts, boiled ones."

From:

just_hex

Hex made a face.

"I know you're working, but can you leave? I saw a place down the way with noodles," he said, unwilling to admit he was a little uncomfortable with what was going on in that booth over there.

From:

511v3r_h4mm3r

"Oh," Max said, slowly registering Hex's discomfort. "No. I owe money, and I work to pay it back. I can't go, but you don't have to stay. I understand," he assured him.

From:

just_hex

"What if I, ah, paid for you to come with me? Maybe me fantasy is eating a burger, yeah?" he offered. "I'm flush. How much?"

From:

511v3r_h4mm3r

"Eighty," Max said, looking a bit surprised. "It's a lot... I could just see you another night. You shouldn't spend money on a service you won't use."