Chapter Text
"You'll get a little swipe card, so the other staff know you're not some kid sneaking around the place. If there's any doors your card doesn't work for, then you don't go through that door."
Simon nodded, fingers drumming against his thigh. He glanced out the window as they pulled up, the car coming to a stop in front of the space center. It was huge, to contain a museum, so many different labs, and living quarters for their most essential employees. Part of him wondered how often he'd get lost in those hallways, stumbling around aimlessly on his way home from classes.
Stepping out of the car, Aura continued talking. Simon scrambled to keep up with her, dragging his suitcase out of the car while she strode ahead.
"Our place's got our bedrooms, a kitchenette, a living room, and a bathroom. If you leave the seat up, I'll nail your balls to the wall, got it?"
"Y-yes," he stuttered out. Aura ignored his reply, swiping a small card through a scanner by the door. The doors parted, and the two stepped through.
The inside was even grander, a reception area front and center with little pamphlets and fliers about events being held at the center. A short woman nodded at Aura, her gaze shifting to Simon.
"Is this your brother?"
"Yeah, the dork's living with me now. I'll have him stop by the office later for his card. Can we have a temp one for now?"
"Of course." The woman rummaged through some drawers, before handing Simon a small plastic card. "I'm Sarah Starr. Guess I'll be seeing you around?"
"Yeah. I'm Simon." He nodded at the woman, holding the card in his hands. "It's very nice to meet you."
He heard Aura's snort and turned in time to see her eyes roll. She laid one arm over his shoulder, steering him towards the elevator.
"I see you're as awkward as always."
"I see you're as rude as always. I was just saying hi."
"Sure. I'm just glad you dropped the 'dono' thing," she grumbled, pressing the button for the top floor.
"I-I didn't. Besides, what's wrong with honorifics?"
"The fact that we're speaking English . I swear to God, Simon, you'd better not be a dork around my coworkers."
"As long as you stop being so prickly. You know, you're really treating this like a burden when you're the one who invited me to move in."
"If I was treating you like a burden, I wouldn't be showing you around the place. Hell, I wouldn't even pick you up-- Mom and Dad can cover your bus fare here for all I care."
"Gee, Aura, thanks. Could've just gotten myself an apartment."
"An apartment?" She finally broke, laughing and slapping her leg. "Who the fuck would give a sixteen year old softie like you an apartment?"
A ding chimed through the air, and the elevator doors parted to reveal their destination. Aura had told him that the top floor was reserved for residences, and he found himself in a series of hallways. Small doors, marked with nameplates, were scattered here and there, only a few that he could see from his spot by the elevator, but the hallways twisted and turned to allow for more.
"Here we are, casa de Blackquill." She led him to a door with a small nameplate reading BLACKQUILL, AURA . Again, she swiped through a scanner, and led him inside.
It was a modest enough apartment, plenty for the two of them. The living room had a nice view of the woods outside, a TV built into one of the walls, and past the hallway were the other areas. Stepping ahead, he found his bedroom. It was small, perhaps a hundred square feet, with a simple bed, desk, and chair. I guess I'm getting the college dorm experience after all .
"So, when's the semester start?" Aura called from the hallway.
"Next Wednesday. I'm stopping by campus tomorrow to get my books."
"So you're not doing anything today?"
"....No?"
"Cool. Come with me."
Dropping his suitcase, he followed Aura back out into the main hallway. She led him towards another apartment, the nameplate reading CYKES, METIS and CYKES, ATHENA .
"Who's this?"
"My coworker, Metis. She's a psychologist."
"A psychologist?"
"Yeah, she helps me do some AI shit." Aura swiped her card, opening up the door. "Anyway, she's busy today so I figure you can take babysitting duty."
"Babysitting--"
"Hey, little princess, how you doing?"
A small girl, maybe four or five, peered around a door from farther inside. Her large, blue eyes stared at Aura and Simon as Aura drew nearer, bending down to address the girl.
"Come on out here, there's someone you should meet."
The girl slowly stepped out. She was wearing a set of matching yellow pajamas, little ducks patterned across the shirt and pants, and she approached Aura on bare feet. The girl kept silent as her eyes looked over Simon, studying him with a seriousness he hadn't expected from a child.
"This is Simon, my brother. He's gonna be your new babysitter, 'kay?"
"N-new babysitter?" Simon spluttered, glancing between Aura and the girl. "Since when?"
"Since now. Metis is out and I've got more important stuff to do, but I can't just leave her alone all day."
"So you're entrusting her to me?"
"If you're big enough to go to college, you're big enough to take care of a six year old. Just feed her, make sure she doesn't make a mess, and bedtime's eight."
"But--"
"No."
"But I--"
"Nope. You're not getting outta this. I'll be back round nine. See ya!"
Aura ducked out the door. Simon rushed to follow, but paused-- with just his visitor pass, he wouldn't be able to get into Aura's apartment, or back into this one, if he left now. Slowly, he turned, facing the girl he'd been left with. She brushed back some of her long orange hair, looking at him expectantly.
"Uh, hi. I'm Simon, like Aura said. What's your name?"
The child stared at him.
"M-may I know your name?"
The child kept staring.
"Do you....speak?"
The child turned and walked away.
"Oh. Okay," he mumbled. Then, raising his voice; "Hey kid, where are you going?"
The girl did not reply. After a few moments, she reentered the living room, a small board under one arm. Propping it up on the couch, Simon could see it was some sort of feelings chart, brightly-colored faces making a series of exaggerated expressions to represent the words written under them. Basic emotions like "happy", "sad", and "angry", along with physical states like "hurting", "thirsty", and "tired". The girl tapped at a bright orange face, its mouth open and drooling to express "hungry".
"You're hungry? I-I'll go see if there's anything in the kitchen."
Cool. I'm taking care of a nonverbal child whose name I don't even know. Cool cool cool.
The apartment's kitchenette had a large fridge and some cabinets. After opening a few cupboards, he finally found the pantry and began scanning through. Instant ramen, saltines, fruit bars, cereal....
"Hey, you want some pretzels?"
He turned. The child gave him a quick nod.
"Alright, pretzels sound good. Let me find you a bowl."
A few minutes later, he was on the couch with the girl and her feelings chart. She contentedly held the bowl in her lap, breaking each pretzel into many little pieces before popping them all in her mouth. She stared out at the window, feet kicking over the side. Whatever age she was, she seemed rather small, hunched in over herself as she ate.
"Are they good?"
The girl gave a nod. He bit his lip, thinking about the nameplate outside.
"Hey, is your name Athena?"
A nod.
"That's cool. Athena's the goddess of wisdom. You must be pretty smart."
Athena grinned, and gave him a quick nod.
"Oh, so you're really smart. Wow. You must be running the place."
She gave a light giggle, leaning back on the couch and chomping on some more pretzels. After a few moments, Athena nodded, and then laughed again.
"You are? Well, you've got a lovely space center here. So, what do you usually do for fun?"
Athena paused, then shrugged. She pointed at a small shelf below the TV. The shelf was overflowing with board games and books, ranging from children's stories to thick volumes like the DSM-V. He could spot Scrabble and a chess set among the boxes, but they were only a few of many.
"Alright," he said, getting up to kneel in front of the shelf. "Hmm. What do you usually play. How about Connect Four?"
----
Simon stretched back on the couch, glancing over at the kitchen. The digital clock read 6:02, and with a grumble of his stomach he realized he was hungry. He hadn’t eaten since that morning, just a quick sandwich before Aura picked him up.
“Hey, Athena? It’s getting late. Are you hungry?”
She sat for a moment, fingers carding through her hair before she gave a noncommittal shrug.
“Alright, well I’m hungry. Let me see what’s in your fridge.”
The answer was surprisingly little. While the pantry was full of junk food and quick snacks of convenience, there was no fresh produce to be found. A jug of non-dairy milk, cheese, a package of smoked fish.... Geez. What do these two live off of?
Sighing, he grabbed out the fish and closed the fridge. He was pretty sure he’d seen some rice in the pantry, and they at least had a few seasonings. It would be a meager dinner, but he could always have more later-- first came feeding Athena.
Athena tiptoed closer as he pulled out pots, curious eyes watching his every movement. He glanced around the kitchenette, locating his necessary tools. Interesting. I’ve never cooked with an electric stovetop before .
“Do you like rice, Athena? Okay, how about fish? This fish-- salmon. You like salmon? Nice.”
He busied himself with the rice before flipping through the fridge again. A half-empty carton meant he could make some eggs at least-- that would go well with the rice if he fried them. As he cracked the eggs into his pan, Athena stepped even closer, eyes wide though she struggled to see so high up.
“What, you wanna watch? Here, can I pick you up?”
The girl stiffened, but didn’t struggle as he lifted her. He set her on the other side of the sink, close enough to see but far enough that no wandering digits might get burnt. Her eyes were glued to the pan, legs kicking with an interest that burned more intensely once the eggs began to bubble and crispen. Athena had the good sense to stay where she was, observing his cooking from afar.
After not too long, it was all ready. First he poured out the rice, then shook out some pepper and garlic powder. He portioned the salmon into their bowls, before topping the pile off with the eggs. He sliced the centers with a fork, watching the yolk drip over the bed of rice. Finally, a little drizzle of soy sauce, and it was ready. He brought Athena back down, and the girl followed him into the living room, holding back her hands while he set the bowls on the coffee table. She raced to grab her bowl, fork cutting through to get a big forkful of yolky rice.
“Well? How is it?”
He didn’t need a verbal answer, just the way her face split into a wide smile. He mirrored the expression, taking a bite of his own. “You’re right. I did pretty good with what I had.”
He glanced over at the TV, picking up the remote. “Hey, do you wanna watch some--”
He froze. Athena was shaking, hands clutched tightly over her ears. She screwed her eyes shut, tensing in preparation for.... something . Simon set his bowl aside, getting to his knees in front of her.
“Athena? Hey, are you okay?”
The girl shook her head, then removed one hand to quickly point at the TV’s remote, now discarded on the table.
“I....I’m not sure I understand. Do you want me to turn on a show for us? I’m sure there must be--”
Athena gave a vigorous shake of her head. He pushed the remote further away from them, slowly putting his hands on Athena’s shoulder.
“Okay. No TV. That’s not a problem for me.” But why is it a problem for her? She looks....pained. Even after he’d said it, she was reluctant to take her hands off her ears, cocking her head with some unknown expectations. Finally, she sighed and resumed eating.
Well, another question to ask Aura, along with many others about this girl .
They ate in silence, Simon not so subtly watching her. Athena was content to eat and stare out the window again, though she was quick to turn and meet his gaze when she felt it on her. He cleaned up their dishes and began washing the pot, looking back every now and then to make sure she was still in the living room. He half-expected her to just appear beside him, quiet as a mouse, but she kept her distance, busying herself with a small book from the shelf.
“What’s your book on?” Simon asked, drawing near. Athena held up the book, pointing to a large illustration on the cover. Through the mess of lines and color he could pick out a picture of a robot, along with the words “mechanics” and “circuitry”. Settling back, he whistled slowly.
“That’s a pretty big book. And you understand that stuff? It would all go over my head.”
The girl shrugged, as if to say only some of it , and then flipped the book open. There were plenty of dogeared pages and bookmarks poking out, as if she’d already read through the book many times prior.
“Hey, Athena, how old are you again?”
She held up six fingers.
“Robotics is a lot for a six year old. You must be pretty popular at school.”
She frowned, gesturing to her ears. Then, she pointed at her feelings chart, tapping the face displaying “loud” with hands over its ears.
“School is too loud for you? So are you homeschooled?”
Now that he thought about it, she was still in pajamas, even though today had been a weekday. Maybe it was too early in the month for public schools to be open, but then again.... Had she ever been to school before?
There was a tug at his sleeve. Athena held up the book, trying to place it in his arms. He frowned, eyes skimming over the thick text.
“You....want me to read this? Aloud?” A quick nod. “Alright, but I’ll warn you-- some of these words are new to me. I’m not sure how to pronounce them.”
I don’t think she’ll be judging you, considering she can’t even speak.
“Okay, let’s see. Chapter five, logic gates, subsection one, bipolar transistors....”
----
Simon was surprised to see Athena fall asleep before him. That book was unbearably dense-- how much had she actually understood, eyes shining when he got to buffers and inverters? He knew of the terms via Aura and her robotics, but not much, to say the least. Athena had settled against the chair of the couch, snoring away.
He set the book on the coffee table, and glanced over at the clock. 8:14. Aura would be back in about forty-five minutes, but for now he had to put Athena to bed. He carefully scooped her up into his arms, making his way down the short hallway. Her bedroom was the last on the right, the floor a minefield of toys and plushies. Trying to avoid as many as he could, he stepped over to her bed, tucking Athena under the thick covers. A little plush bunny was propped up against the wall, nestled among the many pillows.
“Athena?” He ventured, voice quiet. The girl snoozed on. “Good night.”
----
“Told you I’d be back at nine. How was babysitting.”
“Aura,” he sighed, putting down Athena’s book of robotics. He’d been flipping through the index while he waited for her.
“Come on,” she gestured. “Metis is on her way up, so we can go now.”
“‘We’?” He snorted. “I was the one actually babysitting her.”
“Yeah, yeah, whatever. Come on.”
Out in the hallway, Simon finally spoke, following alongside Aura. “That kid, Athena....what’s her deal?”
“Whaddya mean by that?”
“Aura, come on. I would’ve preferred a heads-up before taking care of a nonverbal six year old.”
“She’s autistic. That’s all.”
“I see. How....how severe is it?”
Aura scoffed, swiping through her tablet as she spoke. “She’s autistic, Simon, not lobotomized.”
“I’m just asking! I don’t know much about this stuff, and she seemed to have a lot of....peculiarities. Does she go to school?”
Aura was quiet. “Not really. Her mom’s going to try and enroll her when she starts talking.”
“And if she doesn’t?”
Aura put down her tablet, facing Simon. “Well that’s for Metis to decide. I’m not the girl’s mom. I’m just here to help out when Metis needs, and I was hoping that, since you’re living with me, you’d do the same. Just hang around with her while you’re doing classwork or reading. It’s not that hard.”
Simon was silent. Then; “Okay.”
“Okay?”
“Yeah,” he nodded. “What do I need to know for the future?”
Aura’s face slowly split into a grin, equal parts relieved and thankful. “Alright, well for one thing her favorite color’s yellow, so if you add yellow stuff to anything you give her or want to do with her she’ll be ten times more likely to take it. That’s one of Metis’s tricks for getting her to eat more....”