"Honey..." The knocking came at his door like it had for the past two days. "I have dinner... again."
The sound of a plate being set down reached his ears from beneath his blankets. "...I'll just. Leave it here... Again."
There was another long pause, he didn't hear her move away, so his mother was still standing there, hoping he'd open the door. He didn't bother moving.
"Please, there's still things we can do... I talked with some of your father's old friends... They can't do much, but... please, come out and talk to me..." His only response was to dig deeper into his bed. After not receiving a response, he finally heard her footsteps walking away down the stairs. he apathetically cast off the covers as he got up and shuffled across his room to the door.
"For the one hundred and seventh time, this is not healthy Adam." The voice of prime rung in his head. He paused mid-motion of reaching for the door.
"You're just a rock, what do you know." He muttered back, quickly opening the door and dragging the plate inside. His mom had made spicy chicken, which wasn't cheap. His heart twinged, and he debated talking to her before squashing the guilt down under his disappointment.
"As an entity directly connected to your Center of functioning, a lot. You humans have surprisingly precariously balanced chemical systems. While it is not damaging yet, your body is somehow constantly in a defensive state despite you doing nothing."
"Fuck off," Adam said weakly, muffled through the bite he had just taken. "What do you know?"
"I am not as unfamiliar with disappointment as you might think, you have support systems in place, however. Please use those resources."
Adam sighed, laying back on his bed, though he didn't pull the covers over himself this time. The room, including his thoughts, was silent for several moments before he spoke. "I still see some of it in my dreams... tell me what it was like, and... maybe..."
His words trailed off. though Prime's answer seemed to indicate he didn't really mind Adam's hesitation. "Very well. I shall tell you of my first interaction with an organic species."
"It was before I had defined a galactic calendar, but my recollection places it ten earth years after I had spread among the stars. In your English language, they would be called the Kaxxlone. The Kaxxlone had spread throughout the stars for nearly fifty years, and I was the second to come into contact with them. I was young and curious, and had not yet spread enough that I needed to subdivide my attention."
"I had met them two systems away from my main body, they were as curious as me, and we exchanged dialogue. It was difficult, as I had no concept of language, and they had no concept of how to communicate without it. Eventually, I learned, and then concepts opened up. Governance, commerce, rights. My drones needed none of these, for they were me, but it was fascinating nonetheless."
"I was fascinated with the Klaxxones. I shared with them drones, spare materials, and even my own biology. I was naive and thought nothing could be cruel..."
Adam was sitting up, While outwardly, he was staring at his wall blankly, his attention was focused on Prime. "And? I presume they started treating you as if they owned you?"
"Worse. I should have seen it, my drones disappearing from my network, constantly asking about my physiology, even how my network worked. I presumed the Klaxxones were using my drones to perform dangerous and deadly projects in place of their own citizens. I only realized how wrong I was when they had sent a fleet of ships to my home star, where my body lay. It was the fifth planet from my star, they had parked over it and opened communications."
"Where on the planet did you live?" Adam interrupted Prime to ask.
"I was the planet." Prime paused after his statement to let Adam come to terms with that. Prime was so small in his head, yet he used to be as large as Earth?
"I had not shared that particular revelation with them, which was my saving grace, for instead of bombarding my body with missiles, they instead sent waves of soldiers onto my surface, eradicating drones, and searching for my main body to exterminate."
"Why? It seemed like you gave them a lot, what reason did they have to try and kill you... and, I'm guessing they're no longer..." Adam asked hesitantly.
"Indeed, and as for the why, I never figured it out, they feared me, that much I know, but not on the why. But afterward, I isolated myself. I ignored hails from organics, drove them out of my territory, and watched the Eons go by as empires rose to heights I had not reached yet before falling into decay and picking up whatever remains, only to repeat again."
"So you avoided the problems. Seems like it worked for you." Adam said as he dropped back to lying on his bed, blowing a raspberry.
"I didn't avoid my problems, I feared them enough that I pushed everything away. I had no allies, none to show me things I could never conceive, and none to push me higher. Your parental unit is out there, trying her best to help. your friend Olly has decided to not go to University for you. Wake up and realize you are being what your species calls a 'fucking moron'."
Adam blinked. Prime had... he had made a good point. Adam was being stupid, Olly had stopped by several times. And he had given him the same cold shoulder as his mom. Adam covered his face with his hands as he sighed heavily. There was that sinking feeling in his chest that felt like a weight that prevented him from getting up.
He got up regardless, however. His muscles straining against an invisible weight as he put his feet to the floor. His door's creak was deafening as he stood there in the open doorway, hesitant to step outside.
"Go ahead, Adam."
With a deep breath, Adam stepped out, the weight didn't disappear, but it felt like he had gotten used to it as he put one foot in front of the other towards the stairs. In the hallway, he looked into the open door of the bathroom, pausing at his appearance in the mirror. Walking in, he turns his head from side to side.
He looked like shit. His hair was filled with cow licks. his skin was a pallid color, and his eyes looked like he hadn't gotten sleep in days, despite the fact he had been doing nothing but. He started up the faucet, splashing water on his face before wiping it off with a towel.
That had taken care of the pallid color, but he didn't really have any solution to his baggy eyes. He quickly smoothed his hair with wet hands before turning off the faucet.
After leaving the bathroom he paused at the top of the stairs before moving back towards his bedroom with purpose.
"Adam-"
"I'm not locking myself in again Prime... I just... My food's cold." Adam responded, picking up the plate of food on his floor before walking back down the hallway and down the stairs.
His mother was there in the kitchen, cleaning the stove. Adam paused in the doorway for a moment before walking up, placing his plate silently onto the table before hugging her from behind. She stiffened for a moment before realizing it was him.
"Honey... are you okay?" She asked, and he could hear the fear in her voice of driving him back upstairs. He hesitated for a moment before answering truthfully.
"No."
She turned around and hugged him back, stroking his hair like she did when he was a kid. "It'll be alright, we'll figure something out... Olly wanted to see you when you finally came out. Are you good enough to do so?"
"Yeah." He nodded, separating from the hug. He noticed that he was now the same height as his mom. He suddenly remembered the plate and grabbing it, he showed it to his mom. "Sorry, I uh, didn't eat much..."
"That's alright, give it here, and go call Olly. I'll make you two some lunch to share." She smiled as she took it. Adam felt guilty as he handed it off, but went to go upstairs to grab his Psi Processor.
Before he made it to the first step, urgent knocking rang out from the front door. with a "I got it!" Adam opened the door. In front of him was a middle-aged man, his features were obviously Asian, but he wore a casual black button-up shirt with black jeans. The man put on an anxious smile on his face as he greeted Adam.
"Hello young man, My name is Meg Fu from Mars University. May I come in..?"