They soon fell into a new daily routine. Russo would go to work during the morning, while Soma would do chores and attend job interviews. Soma would wait for Russo with a warm albeit shoddily made dinner and the two would spend their evenings together before turning in for the night.

As they lived together, Russo paid extra attention to Soma’s mental state. The doctor who treated the boy at the hospital warned him that he may experience some form of PTSD due to the trauma he went through. And while he appeared stable and calm there were a few incidents that Russo found alarming.

For example, during the first night Soma spent at his apartment, Russo woke up to odd noises. At first, he tried to ignore the sounds, but when they didn’t stop for a while, he became concerned. He got up, put on his night robe and his slippers, and went to look for Soma.

First, he checked in Soma’s room as it was right next to his own. The door was ajar and both Soma and his quilt were gone. He then checked the living room and then the kitchen.

The fridge was open and a lot of scattered half-eaten food littered the floor. Soma wasn’t there, however. Russo paused for a moment to listen for signs of his presence, and he soon heard clinking noises coming from the bathroom.

He went in and found Soma sitting in the bathtub eating a can of beans with a knife and the quilt pulled over his head. His knife made the noises as he tried to gather the last of the beans.

Russo carefully pulled the quilt off his head and took the knife from him. Soma’s face, pajamas, and hands were covered in the smears of various sauces, and there was a piece of ham stuck to his cheek. His lip was bleeding a little, he must have cut himself while eating. His half-lidded eyes were empty and hollow as if he wasn’t quite there. He was probably sleepwalking. Even after Russo took the knife from him, he still tried to scoop out the beans with his fingers.

Russo helped him eat the last of the beans and then lightly slapped his face a couple of times to wake him up. When alertness returned to the youth’s eyes, he looked around bewildered as if he didn’t know where he was for a moment. He appeared lost and confused, and Russo felt his heart ache for him.

[…What’s going on?] Soma asked.

[You had some late-night munchies.] Russo said and then wet a towel with warm water to wipe off the youth’s face.

[…Why am I in the bathtub…?]

[Good question. I’m wondering about that myself.]

Soma let him take care of him in silence. He appeared to be in a daze. Russo gently helped him out of the bathtub, cleaned him with featherlight movements, and helped him change his dirty pajama top. Though he had a lot of questions and even more things to say, he knew that Soma needed time to sort himself out.

When he was done he led the teen to the living room where he could keep an eye on him while he cleaned up in the kitchen.

When Soma saw the state of the kitchen he signed an apology with shaky hands.

[I’m sorry.]

[What are you sorry for?] Russo asked pretending not to know.

[…I made a mess. I… will clean it up…] And he started towards the kitchen, but Russo stopped him and gently pushed him to sit down on the couch.

[You rest. I will take care of it, no big deal.]

[But—]

[It is fine.] Russo said and he stepped into the kitchen to do as he told him. He also made a nice, hot calming tea for Soma. When he was finished, he sat down next to the boy, sipping a mug of tea of his own. Soma seemed nervous and tired.

[Are you mad?] He asked slowly.

[No. I’m not.] Russo said as he looked deep into the boy’s eyes to reassure him. [You’ve been through a terrible ordeal. Naturally, things will get wonky for you for a while. I would be more worried if you didn’t have a reaction.]

Soma lifted his hands as if wanting to say something then put them down seemingly deciding to keep his thoughts to himself instead. He sucked in a breath and looked away, fixing his gaze on a random patch of wall.

Russo reached toward him to get his attention, but Soma flinched and shrank away from his touch, hugging himself with an alarmed expression. Seeing this Russo slowly pulled back his hand. He looked at Soma’s frightened eyes and tried to reassure him with clear articulate gestures.

[You are safe with me. I’m not going to hurt you, I promise. And I hope you know that you can talk to me about anything. Okay?]

Soma didn’t react at first but then nodded uncertainly.

[Do you have anything you want to talk about now?]

Soma shook his head.

[Are you sure?]

The boy nodded.

[Would you like to go back to sleep?]

Soma nodded again, and after Russo returned a nod of his own, he escorted the youth back to his room. When he tucked in the teen and turned to leave, he felt Soma tug at the sleeve of his pajamas. He seemed to want something but didn’t say anything, however, Russo understood him anyway. He stayed with Soma until the boy fell asleep.

Another time when Russo came home really late, he found Soma in the dark, sitting by the dining table staring into the flame of a lit candle. His eyes shone with tears though he wasn’t crying. When Russo approached him, Soma just wished him good night and then shut himself in his room.

Russo would often find him on the balcony staring at the sky for hours, or sleeping in the bathtub – though the case of late-night munchies didn’t happen again. Once, when he was coming home earlier, Russo heard singing come from inside his apartment in the hallway. By the time he went in, the singing stopped and he found Soma lying on the floor on his belly scrolling the holoweb for something. When he asked the boy if he was singing, Soma didn’t say anything about it and instead asked what Russo wanted for dinner.

Soma also meticulously cleaned every day with the vigor of someone who wanted to remove not just the dust, but even the color of the surfaces.

A month has passed like this. It was now Russo’s day off and he asked Soma to spend time together. He planned everything, from brunch to watching the city lights from an open deck restaurant air-cruiser at night. He couldn’t help but notice how absentminded the boy was the entire time. Halfway through the program, after watching a theater play by the famous deaf troupe TheShakerz, as they were heading to have lunch he finally decided to ask what was wrong, since Soma didn’t seem to want to share by himself and was clearly troubled.

[What’s on your mind?] Russo asked.

Soma tilted his head with a puzzled expression.

[You’re distracted. Credit for your thoughts?]

[Sorry.]

[What are you sorry for?]

[It’s finally your day off yet I’m bringing you down with my brooding.]

[You don’t have to apologize for that. Brood all you want. I just want to be included in it with you.]

[…You say the cheesiest things sometimes, Russo.] Soma said with a sigh. [I just have a lot on my mind, that’s all.]

[Like what?]

[Do you really want to know?] Soma asked after a moment of silence. He looked at Russo intently, searching his face. Russo took him by the hand and sat down on a bench on the street.

[Tell me.]

[Let’s just go to the restaurant first. I want to gather my thoughts.]

Soma kept quiet until they reached the restaurant. He let Russo order for him, and he started while they were waiting for the food.

[…I didn’t have a good life down there, and I often wished I could just burn the whole place down with everyone in it. Now that it’s destroyed, as crappy as it was, I miss it. How messed up is that?]

[It’s not messed up.]

[Yes it is! Don’t say it’s not!] Soma huffed signing with angry gestures.

[…Okay. What else?]

[Everything is so peaceful here. The air is nice, the people are nice, everything is just so nice. It’s like here nobody even knows hardship. Before, whenever I closed my eyes, I dreamed of a life like this. But now that I have it, it feels like mockery towards the life I had before. I went online and you know what I found? Nothing. There is no information of people ever living in that shaft. After I wrote down what happened to me, I expected that that hellish place would get some kind of acknowledgment. I expected to see it on the news that it was a bad place that shouldn’t have existed all forgotten by society and that it was wiped out. But all everyone talks about is that frontier town that was also annihilated. I know it’s not fair that I think this way, because it’s sad that those people died and lost their homes and their loved ones too. But I still want it recognized that we lived down there. So I made a video of myself telling the story of that place. I subtitled it and everything. But like 10 minutes after I posted it, it got taken off. No matter what holosite I published it on, it was always taken off almost immediately. It’s like our very existence is being denied. I guess it’s true that big brother is always watching. Say, Russo, do you know who is taking down my videos? Did you know about it?]

Russo had no idea something like this was even going on, but he wasn’t shocked. He knew why Soma’s video was taken down, but he also knew it was classified information so he wasn’t sure how to answer.

[Why aren’t you saying anything?] Soma asked.

[…I didn’t know this was happening, but I’m not surprised. The reason why your video is being taken off is that it contains valuable information that mustn’t be leaked.]

[What information?]

[Sorry, Soma. I can’t talk about that. It’s classified.]

[…Great.]

[Hey, I recognize that you guys lived there. Is there anyone or anything you miss?] Russo said quickly to placate him.

[Uncle Theo. He was alright. And the meerrats. I haven’t seen any here. …And I guess the container.]

[What about your mother?]

[What about her?]

[Do you miss her too?]

[No, that bitch can burn in hell.] Soma said indifferently, leaving Russo speechless.

[And I hate it.]

[Hate what?]

[Feeling useless.]

[You aren’t useless.] Russo assured him firmly.

[Yes, I am. I still don’t have a job. I’m leeching off of you. I’m letting you down.]

[You are not letting me down. It can take some time to gain one’s sea legs.]

[But not a month!]

[Well, what did they say at the interviews?]

[They said that they don’t want someone with no education. Some of them even said they don’t want a deaf person. Why do I even need to hear to organize inventory? Do they think people do that with their ears?!]

[What?! They really hold being deaf against you like that?! The bastards! You don’t need to work at a place like that, Soma. They don’t deserve you.] Said Russo sympathizing angrily.

[Thanks. It’s true though that I don’t have an education.]

[Yeah, well—]

[You know that chicken place at the corner of the 3^rd and 15^th street?] Soma cut in. [The manager told me I shouldn’t even show up without a diploma. I couldn’t tell him ‒ gee, sorry I left my papers in the apartment of my former dead body. Why does he need a diploma anyway?! Selling drumsticks is not rocket science!]

[Right, what if—]

[Even if he doesn’t trust me to handle the customers, I can still work in the back! In the kitchen, or cleaning the store or something!]

Russo quickly grabbed Soma’s hands as he saw the youth gearing up for another rant. Soma glared at him angrily and yanked back his hands.

[What?! You asked!]

[That’s not it. I just have something to say too.]

At that, Soma deflated a little.

[What is it?]

[Why not go to school?] Russo asked.

Soma looked at him with a stunned face. [Who? Me?]

[Who else?] Russo retorted with a smile. [I already have my diploma.]

[Way to rub it in, Russo.] Soma rolled his eyes. [How would that work? Education costs money. I already owe you so much. I can’t burden you with this too.]

[Actually, education in the Federation is free of charge to anyone below the age of eight-teen. You are around high school age, so you can go. You should.]

[Really?] Soma suddenly leaned forward, beaming at Russo. [Really truly?]

[Yeah. How about it? Will you go?]

[I’ll go! Oh, but are there any schools for the deaf?]

Russo thought for a moment. [No, there isn’t any. But it’s okay. I know what you are concerned about, but you don’t have to worry. There is  a technology that interprets what you say to your audience. Here let me show you on my holowatch.] Russo typed on the holographic keyboard of the holowatch and pulled up a picture of a pair of gloves and something that looked like a piece of armor with a speaker in the middle. He sent it to Soma’s holowatch before continuing.

[See this? It’s called a personal interpreter. See the dots on the gloves? They are the reference points that are scanned by the holo scanner of the chest plate. What you are signing with your hands gets interpreted by the built-in computer and gets said out loud through the speakers in real-time.]

[That seems really cool and expensive…]

[It’s fine. The schools provide these things to students who don’t have one. Schools are equipped in a way that all students regardless of any physical disability they might have can attend comfortably. What the teachers say gets recorded and shown on the screens on the desks in the classroom so you can know what they are talking about even when they aren’t facing you. These systems were established not long before I became a student. And there is going to be a congress voting soon about making learning sign language mandatory soon.]

[That’s pretty amazing.] Soma said with relief. [I hope the vote passes.] He drank a bit of water as he thought of something. [Do blind people have similar aids?]

[That’s right. They usually carry a holo scanner shaped like a finger-thick cylinder.] Russo looked it up and showed it to Soma. [They map their surroundings with this end, and the information gets stored in their holowatch. The device warns of obstacles through the earpiece that goes with the holo scanner as a set. It has a satellite connection, so the device can guide its owner to places.]

[Like a GPS?]

[I don’t know what that is, but it also monitors the weather and keeps its owner updated in advance if the weather is about to change. There are all kinds of things for the disabled. For example, in schools, there are wider halls for those who use hoover chairs, and there are elevators and moving sidewalks for those who have difficulty moving around.]

[Then what about those with mental disabilities?]

[They go to schools designed specifically with their needs in mind. From what I know about it, those who need it are assigned a helper android that watches over them.]

[And the school provides all of that?]

[Yeah. Though, you have to give it back when you graduate.]

[I get it. Other people will need them too.]

[Oh, if you break it, you have to pay for it though.]

[Right. Look, the soup is here.]

The waiter arrived with the first course and put the decorative bowls before them. Russo turned to his soup and plunged his spoon into it with enthusiasm. He slurped a spoonful when he heard Soma say something out loud he didn’t understand.

“Jó étvágyat¹T/N: It's literally Bon apétite, wishing to those who eat with you to have a good appetite. It's good manners to say it before sharing a meal with others regardless of wether you yourself eat or not. If you eat as well, your family/friends/peers will say it back to you in Hungary.,” Soma said and smiled at Russo who looked up puzzled, then started eating. Russo heard him say this before meals and this time he wanted to ask Soma about what that meant, but he already knew that the boy didn’t like to talk while eating²While having a meal, it's considered good manners to keep quiet and focus on the meal. Obviously, stuff like 'pass the salt' or asking for water/napkin/etc is okay, but yapping when you should be eating can be considered rude to the cook if they are present (like at a family dinner where granma worked herself to the bone to make those amazing dishes. Love you granma! That tomato soup last time with the eggs was godly!). Discussions are reserved before/after/in between courses. But it's not like there is deadly scilence either, people finish their meals at a different pace and those who finish sooner usually start to chat. This stuff is mostly present in more traditional households/places (like my grandparents' place or certain restaurants where the waiter might stare at you if you don't shut up and eat -_-"). However, don't speak with your mouth full. That's rude and gross. I'm bringing this up because if you recall, I mentioned before that Soma was Hungarian in his previous life. :) .

Soma ate his soup first, so he waited for Russo to finish.

[Do you have a school in mind I could go to?]

[There is a school near us. It’s a few magnetrain stops away from our place.]

[Okay. I’ll go there then.] Soma said and turned to his holowatch. Russo, curious of what the boy was looking up, stared at the holoscreen above Soma’s watch. He didn’t notice that the boy’s ears were red, or that he forgot to ask about what ‘Jó étvágyat’ was.

Soma was looking up how to apply to school.

[Can I even go here? They have an exam. They test for previous knowledge learned in earlier schools. Will this be okay?] He asked Russo with a frown.

[I think it should be fine if we just explain your circumstances. You can read and write, so that should be fine. As for literature and history, maybe they can be lenient – I mean, some of that knowledge is just stuff you relearn in the first half of the first school year. Computer sciences will be trickier as it builds on previous knowledge – perhaps you will have to take classes separately for that to catch up. You will need one for math too – no offense, but you are at the elementary school level.]

[Elementary school, you say – but the math you showed me before is at least at the level of a university professor. I never even saw my brother work on such complicated stuff before. You are a genius, don’t compare yourself with us average folk! And besides, I was never good with numbers...]

[Actually, the math I showed you is end-of-middle-school level here. I’m perfectly average.]

[What? No way!]

[Don’t believe me? Here, look at these problems.] Russo showed Soma a couple of math problems, all titled ‘Middle school math final exam’, all looking extremely complicated.

[That can’t be right.] Soma said in disbelief. [How is that for middle school kids? What do you even use something so complicated for?]

[This is basic knowledge everyone is required to learn to be able to drive a space shuttle. In case the automatic systems fail and you have to make calculations to get to places manually. It’s necessary for getting a license. And it's useful for loads of other stuff too.]

[No way!] Soma said baffled.

Russo just grinned at him as the waiter delivered the main course to their table.