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“We’re here, just in time for the rain to come down,” Light’s drone started to input the code in order for the karma gate to open while they stood there quietly.
“I must thank you for the help, I couldn’t do any of this without you,” Strings had a slight smile on his face, despite his generally moody attitude.
The two of them waited as the karma gate closed and poured luke-warm water on both of the ancients. Sure, it’s not the most pleasant to be drenched in water, but it's considered a great invention by the species, at least the warmth and soothing feeling of the steam afterwards is soothing.
The gate opened with its mechanical whirring, allowing the two ancients to pass through and into Light’s underground laboratory. It wasn’t necessarily huge from what Strings could tell, a couple lab stations, a few personal rooms so anyone staying wouldn’t have to make the cycle-long trek back to home, and of course, the main laboratory.
The main laboratory was home to Light’s primary experiments, well, one experiment currently. An embryo of a lizard, Lights was talking about it to him and his brother, but Strings really didn’t care about all the genetic engineering shit that he had to listen to when Lights talked about their science projects.
“You never seemed very interested in my studies, is there a reason you’ve suddenly changed?” Lights inquired, they weren’t worried, but just wanted to know why Strings of all ancients would suddenly be interested in something so complex that he never seemed to care about.
“I’ve just wanted to fulfill a purpose, carve my own path,” Strings voice stayed mostly firm but Lights could still tell that his tone wasn't completely steady.
Lights nodded, not responding. They knew Strings was insecure when it came to certain topics, and they both knew that.
“Anyways, I have some genetic material you might need to start out, I’ve most recently acquired the genome of the slugcat, it’s apparently a new multipurposed species, maybe it’ll be useful for your efforts,” Lights remarked, “I keep most of the DNA in a cryogenic storage in order to best preserve it, there’s also extracted plant DNA if you ever wish to make your own food, it’s quite annoying to go up to the surface just to get supplies constantly. That’s why these laboratories are best self-sustained,”
“I didn’t know you grew your own food, it makes sense though,” Strings said, scratching his chin.
“Mhm,” Lights nodded, “Want a drink? It’ll be fresh,”
“Sure, I’ll have a glass to try,” Strings said, cracking his knuckles and stretching at the same time.
Lights grabbed some latex gloves, a plate, and a knife. They put the gloves on and carried the said materials to a clean counter which had a row of plants of varying shapes, sizes, and colors. Lights walked over to an orange plant and cut a large chunk of it. The chunk had a thin liquid dripping from it—also orange. They put the piece on a plate and carried it over to a juice extractor.
Strings noticed Lights was humming a quiet tune he couldn’t recognize. It almost sounded like some sort of lullaby. He didn’t understand why Lights off all people would be humming a childish tune, they’re just expressing themselves. Hopefully.
Strings snapped out of his trance when Lights put down a wine glass full of a viscous liquid on a wooden table.
“Why don’t you have a seat? It’s more comfortable,” Lights said, being considerate, “It’s not pleasant to stand all the time,”
“Sure,” Strings let out a small smile before sitting down at the table.
“It doesn’t contain any alcohol, not great to get drunk all the time,”
“I hate how you’re right,” Strings muttered.
Lights knew Strings enjoyed drinking his sorrows away—maybe a little too much. Sometimes they saw him indulge too much. But being friends meant you had to look out for each other, right?
Lights sat across from Strings, just to make things feel even if there was a flower pot in the way which obscured the sight of both of them. Strings knew those were flowers native to the expanses outside of the iterators’ retaining walls in that pot. The work to get everything in place that Lights did made Strings feel doubtful, after all this whole laboratory definitely took many more cycles than one could count on one hand.
Strings buried the thought in the back of his mind as he started sipping the drink. It was sweet and tangy, but it was calming, like certain antidepressants. Lights was also savoring the juice, which perplexed Strings, why not indulge in something you have so much of?
“Hey, Strings?” Lights asked, “Strings, you zoned out?”
“Oh shit!” Strings exclaimed, “Yeah, got a little deep in thought,”
“There’s nothing wrong with thinking, it’s in our culture—our philosophy is to put thought first,”
“Lights, leave the fancy talk to the iterators, for the sake of both of us,”
“It’s still good to think logically, irrationality won’t get us far,”
Strings nodded, “I know, but why not relax? It won’t hurt to,”
“I’m aware it’s not good to overwork myself, but you’ll have to learn eventually,”
“Why? It’s not like some bigshots’ philosophy is going to change the course of life,”
“May just be useful to understand in the future,” Lights remarked, “The cycle is unpredictable, you don’t have to know now—we’re all flawed after all,”
Lights let out a small, reassuring smile which Strings couldn’t help but return back. They continued to drink the juice in peace, listening to the rain rhythmically thumping above them.