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“ACHOO!” The sound is loud and cracks across the silence of the main room. Aloy wrinkles her nose at it, watching as Erend wipes at his face with his hand and then returns that same hand to the board.
“You know you can cover, with the crook of your arm?” She mimes the gesture and Erend scoffs at the sight.
“The Oseram encourages letting it all out. Besides, it helps everyone around not to get sick.”
“That’s not how that works,” she says, as she destroys his Ravager in her next move. “In fact, it works the exact opposite of that.”
“In Utaru culture, those who are sick wear cloth masks, so as to not get others sick,” Zo adds from her post. She pauses her work to frown at Erend. “I have an extra one you can use for the time being.”
“I’m fine,” Erend grouses. “Besides, the worst of it is over.”
Zo hums disapprovingly.
Despite the ‘worst’ of his illness being over, Erend still loses to Aloy’s Bristleback in one thoughtless move later. Aloy crows in victory as Erend grumbles. “That’s three victories in a row, which means you owe me three drinks!”
“Yeah, yeah, next time I’m at Chainscrape, I’ll—“ Erend cuts off suddenly, a bewildered expression on his face, and Aloy turns in the direction of his gaze.
Beta is at the top of the stairs, barely in the main room. She clutches at herself, curling inward as her gaze flickers from Erend, to Aloy, to Zo, and back to Aloy. A terrible silence descends as the three stare at the wayward clone who has surfaced for the first time since she’s arrived.
“Beta,” Zo says, breaking the tension with a soft voice and encouraging smile. “Are you hungry? I have a stew here that’s just finished cooking.”
Before Zo has even finished, Beta shakes her head insistently. “I’m fine,” she says, her eyes returning to their familiar position of staring at the floor. “I was just looking to see if Varl was here. He said he’d come by to see me and the day is almost over.”
“He’s out on a hunt,” Zo says. Erend’s eyes still haven’t relaxed from their bug-eyed state, and Aloy can’t help but to roll her eyes, because it takes Varl being late for Beta to finally approach the rest of the group . “He’ll be here any moment. Would you like to wait here?”
Beta looks at Aloy, chin still tucked into her body. It’s an uncomfortable gaze, one much too measuring, too piercing, a rare glimpse at how Elisabet must have been in person. Aloy returns the gaze in equal measure, refusing to be the one to look away first. It’s a new thing for Beta, who mostly refuses to keep eye contact longer than a second at a time, and she only does it with Aloy.
Beta maintains the eye contact as she shuffles closer, stopping a few feet away from Aloy and Erend. Thankfully, Erend has finally relaxed his stare and busies himself with clearing the board, pretending as if he isn’t watching the two clones closely. Zo herself does a better job of pretending that she isn’t doing the same, flicking her wrists as she sorts through data with her Focus.
“That looks like chess,” Beta says calmly, and the observation causes Aloy to break first and glance at the board. Damn it.
“Chess?”
“An Old World board game. It’s a grid in the same way, and pieces… but not like those.”
“You want to try it out?” Erend says, in a way that is overly casual. “I’ll let you use my Ravager.”
“No!” Beta takes a step back and a shuddering breath. “No, I can gather how it works from here. Besides, spending time on it is a waste.”
Aloy grits her teeth at the pointed barb. No matter how often Varl says to the contrary, Beta can be malicious when she wants to be. “I’m sure you can wait downstairs,” she says as she leans back in her seat and glares at Beta. “Since you’re not hungry and all.”
Beta lifts her chin at this and glares back. “On second thought, I think—“
She’s cut off by another of Erend’s sneezing fits, which he predictably doesn’t cover his nose and mouth. The color in Beta’s face drains at the sound.
“Is that a cold?” She backs up quickly, holding her arms in front of her to shield herself. “No, no, no, this was a bad idea, this was an incredibly bad idea.” As quickly as she came, she disappears back down the stairs.
Zo takes a low breath. “I’ll put a bowl outside her door.”
Aloy stares dumbly down the stairs as Erend shakes his head to dislodge the fog in his head. He says, “Well, that was weird.”
——
Two days later, while Aloy is in her room sorting through the spoils of her chest, Varl appears in the doorway.
“Beta’s sick. GAIA says Erend spread it to her.”
“Is he wearing a mask now?” Aloy asks in a long suffering tone.
“No, because he feels completely fine now.”
Typical. And judging by Varl’s face, he agrees with her eye roll.
“Zo has already seen to her, but she’s been asking for you.”
Now that’s a surprise. Aloy has figured that Beta would especially want nothing to do with Aloy while feeling ill. She ducks from Varl’s scrutinizing gaze, returning to her task of sorting machine hearts. “Did you remind her that I’m setting out for Memorial Grove?”
“I’m sure you can wait until daybreak.” Varl uncrosses his arms and leans forward, catching Aloy’s gaze again. “It’s her first time ever being sick.”
Aloy freezes. “Ever?” Her mind flashes to a memory of being in her childhood bed, sweating through the thick furs, as Rost soothes her with a cool compress to her temple. Even when she came of age and no longer needed the coddling, Rost had still insisted on tending to her like a child when she was feverish.
She can’t help the little sigh that escapes, but Varl takes it as a sign of her acquiescence. “She’s downstairs. Zo tried to get her into a real bed, but she refused.”
“Of course she did.” Aloy stands up and tosses the machine part she was holding back into the pile. “Is there anything Zo wants me to take?”
“More blankets.”
——
Aloy can’t imagine that the coolness of the server room helps with Beta’s illness, but the woman is stubborn. She balances the plant weaves and furs in her arms as she checks the corners of the servers, frowning at Beta’s absence. She briefly considers dumping the blankets on the floor and leaving. “Beta, you asleep?”
“In here,” calls a rough voice, weak and scratchy. Aloy follows the sound to a side door, one she’s never noticed before. There, next to a static hologram of Elisabet Sobeck, Beta is shivering under a threadbare blanket.
Aloy gives a sidelong look at the projection but decides not to comment on it. At least not while Beta is curled up on the floor, looking absolutely miserable.
“Roll over, I need to lay down extra padding.”
Beta groans at that but obeys without further protest. Once her back is off the ground, Aloy quickly spreads out a thick layer to cushion against the unyielding metal floor and then grabs Beta’s shoulder to roll her back over. Her hand prickles at the contact — the first time she’s ever touched Beta, she realizes — but Beta sighs in relief at the comfort of the padding. Aloy spreads the rest of the blankets on top, tucking them up to her chin.
“Better?” Aloy asks, moving her hands down to Beta’s sides, tucking the fur. She always appreciated when Rost did it for her, feeling cocooned in the warmth.
“Yes,” Beta breathes out. “Thank you.”
The ensuing silence is awkward. Aloy sits and leans back against a nearby wall. Beta stares at the ceiling. This is the most peaceful of their interactions thus far.
“So,” Aloy starts, picking at the grime under her fingernails. “Varl said you asked for me.”
Beta blushes. “I only wondered where you were, if you had left again. Your comings and goings are illogical.”
“He also said it was the first time you’ve ever been sick.”
Eyes downcast, Beta gives a tiny nod. “I’ve been consistently vaccinated since birth so that I wouldn’t die upon landing here on Earth. Everything from the bubonic plague to smallpox, measles and Zika. They’ve even created vaccines that anticipated New World diseases.” She smiles wryly. “I suppose the common cold was not a concern when there were diseases like tuberculosis to worry about.”
“The sneezing fit,” Aloy says with understanding. She chuckles. “I suppose that is your greatest weakness.”
Beta frowns. “I think I have more pressing defects.”
“It was a joke.”
“Oh.”
They fall silent as Aloy observes her. Her face is flushed, the redness reaching down her neck and under the covers. Aloy wonders idly if her entire body flushes the same way hers does. Her eyes are unfocused, dazed with fatigue. Aloy fights the sudden urge to touch her.
Instead she asks, “How are you feeling?”
Beta huffs. “Useless. My productivity has been stagnant since yesterday. I should be researching HEPHAESTUS, o-or troubleshooting the water filtration system, not stuck here. This is just a waste of time we don’t have.”
Aloy can’t help the chuckle that escapes her. She doesn’t know her fellow clone that well, but it’s very characteristic of her to worry about her productivity, instead of complaining about body aches.
When Beta glares at her, she holds up her hands in surrender. “Remember the Hades Proving Lab? The minute I woke up after, in Zo’s village, I immediately got up and tried to leave. Varl almost had to tackle me back down, had to remind me that I almost died. I was so frustrated that my body wouldn’t cooperate.”
“Yeah,” Beta agrees. “Inconvenient.”
“But I did take the time to slow down, heal. Couldn’t do anything, my body needed to recover.” Aloy looks into her eyes and waits until Beta meets her gaze. “We will be fine while you get better. Far Zenith won’t find us, the water filtration can wait, and HEPHAESTUS isn’t going anywhere.”
“Well, technically HEPH is bouncing all over the network.”
“Beta.”
“Yes?”
“Relax.”
Beta grumbles a bit at that, but Aloy can feel the the restlessness leaving her. She relaxes into her bedding, her face softening a touch. Aloy nods at her, feeling accomplished at her task, and moves to get up.
“Aloy? Can I ask you something?”
And there goes her chance of leaving quickly. “Sure.”
“Can you… stay… for a bit?” Beta flushes suddenly. “You know what? Nevermind, I know you have things to do.”
“…Sure.” She settles back down. “I can stay until you fall asleep?”
“I’d like that.”
It doesn’t take long for Beta to drift off, almost peacefully. She still carries too much tension, too much worry, her forehead still wrinkled even in her sleep. Without thinking, Aloy reaches over to smooth her brow and for the first time doesn’t find Beta lacking.
——
She falls asleep without meaning to and finds that she’s toppled over on her side, parallel to and facing Beta. Aloy’s body is curved towards hers and she blinks bleary-eyed at her clone. Beta is still asleep, her chest rising and falling steadily. She thinks about leaving and starting that long trek to Memorial Grove, but she decides against it. She can take the time to rest.