It was half an hour later that he started to doubt whether he even knew what he was doing. Bennett’s head had started to throb in an unsteady rhythm, making it hard for him to focus on anything. On top of that, the room that, as Faven pointed out, wasn’t part of the building. It was nagging him again. A picture of a fully cooked meal appeared on the wall in front of him, dangling from a robotic arm, making Bennett’s stomach lurch in it’s hunger. Of course, he wasn’t a robot or an artificial being. He was human, the very things he had hated so much in the Dark Age. Humans, which were so vulnerable in every way. And, in this case, needing food to go on. But why wasn’t the house changing itself like it used to do before and making him the food he needed? Was it perhaps that there was no room for a fridge and oven in this small space he had forced it to become? It was possible as he’d never tried to see what the extents of this house were.
Heaving a deep sigh, Bennett’s mind made a mental list, something that helped him complete his tasks efficiently. His current obstacles in working further to find Meghan were the headache that was pounding into his brain and the famished feeling gnawing at his stomach. So, he needed a strength pill and something that would fill him up.
Keeping the list close at hand, he picked out the most casual but inconspicuous outfit he could find. It was only a few minutes later that he was locking the door to his office room and tucking the keys into his pocket. He had a few gadgets at hand in case something went awry, but was, for the most part, rather unequipped. Something that made him feel a bit vulnerable to the outside world. As he started towards the main entrance of the building, he wondered about the last time he had actually gone somewhere where there were many, many humans. It would obviously have been in the Dark Age, as that was when he’d gone on rampage everywhere he could find people. Bennett shook the memories of that time from his head. He was different now. And, besides, he didn’t need to dwell on the past. He needed Meghan.
That was when Faven appeared, popping up beside him, almost making him jump. It was weird how she was sticking to him ever since he’d confronted her about her lightning powers. Instead of saying anything, something like a greeting or an interesting fact, she just started to walk beside him with a small smile on her face. He raised an eyebrow at her demeanor.
“Do you… need something?” He slowed down a bit, a little annoyed at how she just kept appearing out of nowhere just to stick to him like a piece of gum on the bottom of his shoe. Faven just skipped along happily.
“Mmm, not really. I just wanna go outside and you’re going outside too. Coincidence, amiright?” The doctor gave her a side glance. Obviously, having such little information on her in the first place, Bennett assumed that it wasn’t a coincidence. How else would Faven know that he was going outside? She might have kept a close watch on him if she knew exactly when he was leaving his office. Instead of confronting her and possibly ruining any helpful relations, he just nodded in agreement.
“Quite a coincidence.” Faven seemed to be a little more eased with this answer.
“Sooo, where you going?” Bennett shrugged, deciding to give off a sort of friendly demeanor.
“Oh, just to get some stuff-,” his stomach immediately growled and he couldn’t help but blush a little out of embarrassment.
“Ok, then let’s get something to eat while we’re at it!” Bennett mumbled a reply but Faven had already bounded past him to the front doors of the building. Sighing, he followed and they started towards their destination.
Coming out to the street in front of the building, Bennett felt an almost immediate feeling of a sort of claustrophobia. Even with the larger streets and smaller number of people near him, the buildings seemed to him to be much too high. They were towering over him as if they were glowering down, watching his every move. The sky was too far above and had little appearance, a sort of grayish blue hanging above the pair. He was used to the lovely sky being sort of like a blanket over his head, stretching for miles and dotted with clouds or stars that he could look at for hours. Faven, unlike him, seemed used to this alien atmosphere, skipping along the sidewalk as if she had no care in the world. Bennett followed her, still a bit uneasy. But, he couldn’t just walk back in. Not when Faven was with him. She’d most obviously inquire about why he had changed his mind and he didn’t like such questions, ones that delved into his personal affairs.
And so, he tagged along, just behind the woman, who had slowed down and was admiring whatever scenery there was in this city. There was a small park with just as few trees as they could put, a mere echo that reminded him of the garden in the second portion of his house, the one he’d hidden underground. But, his garden didn’t have any birds like the ones that perched on the branches of the trees here. Which was a bit disappointing, since his garden could possibly have birds if there was any wildlife where the house had taken him in the past few years. But, as fate would have it, the house had only been to two spots, both which were away from civilization but above the sea, something he’d learned to appreciate.
They started to near the convenience store that he had seen on the map of this city. However, there was a tiny problem. Bennett scowled at the crowd around the gas station. Normally, he’d avoid strange humans, but the circumstances had shifted him into a sort of desperate situation. To find Meghan, he needed to be at his full potential. The exact reason he’d come to the nearest convenience store, in hopes of achieving his goal while staying away from others as much as possible.
However, he seemed to have come at a time of good business, as there were more humans than he’d estimated, filling up their cars so they could drive everywhere and pollute as they went. There were more humans than was enough to make him feel a bit clammy, like a single sardine in a small can.
On top of all of this, Faven was, for some unknown reason, walking beside him and continuing to the store as if nothing was wrong. Walking very close to him, which was uncomfortable. At least, for Bennett. The only person he’d walked like this with was Meghan and that was when they had been going down a corridor that was a bit narrower than usual. So the fact that Faven was almost touching her shoulder to his was quite disturbing. Faven, however, didn’t seem to mind this contact. In fact, she was looking around the area rather excitedly.
“You know,” she seemed to smile to herself, “It’s nice to be going out with friends.”
“We are not friends,” Bennett replied, still annoyed at the amount of people surrounding them and their noises, “We are coworkers. You also hitched along.” Faven just shrugged, as if she had no care in the world concerning what they were. Bennet wondered if it was too late to back out now. Could they just leave and order something instead? Before he could talk Faven into coming back with him, however, the crowd started to become louder.
“What’s-,” Bennett never got to finish his sentence. Something crashed into the side of the convenience store, the impact causing an enormous cloud of smoke to erupt around it, the commotion accentuated by the shocked cries of the crowd.
