He paced the lab, trying to dissect his subconscious motivations. He would have to see Sal again, and ask him a few more questions that he’d been avoiding last time. Having made that decision, he went downstairs to check on Rev again, not because he was worried about the roadrunner, but because he wanted to see him.
Rev was awake, sitting up in bed and watching some program on the vid that he’d sped up to double or triple speed. He flicked it off as Tech came in and smiled. “Hey Tech how’s it going I’m feeling a lot better now still got a bit of a headache but we got the guy didn’t we?”
“Yeah.” Tech smiled, despite the image of Fudd slumped over and twitching in the cell. His tail even wagged a little bit. “Glad you’re doing okay. I was worried.”
To his surprise, Rev turned away. “Yeah well I’m fine you didn’t need to worry about me so much you know I can take care of myself always have ever since I was seven okay?”
“What?” Rev didn’t answer. “Look, all I said was that I was worried.”
Rev turned back to him. “Yeah you were worried back on the ship when you were trying to keep me off the mission too you know just because I like to suck you off doesn’t mean you gotta start worrying about me or protecting me we all went through the same tests you remember all the guys who didn’t make it but the six of us did and you never started doubting me until this started up did you?”
Fudd forgotten, Tech came into the bedroom and closed the door behind him, leaning against it and sorting through the dizzying speech. “I wasn’t doubting you. I was…” What was he doing? The uncertainty about his own actions spread now, from the interrogation to his actions on the mission. Rev’s eyes fixed him as he struggled to figure out what to say. People, more complicated and unpredictable than machines, didn’t trigger the same connections in his head, leaving him flailing to justify a course of action. For a moment he found himself wishing Rev were a robot, so he could see the circuits and know what was wrong. He shook that thought away. “I was just worried. That’s all. I worry about the rest of them too.”
“You worry about ’em but you don’t try to stop ’em from going on missions or doing the jobs we’ve all been doing for a year why am I suddenly different no don’t answer that I think I can figure it out.”
Tech took a second to collect his thoughts. “Why shouldn’t you be different? I don’t get naked with any of the other team members.”
Rev laughed, shortly. “Thanks for that mental image even though that’s got nothing to do with it what we do in our spare time is our business and nobody else’s and it shouldn’t affect how we do our jobs that’s something else I’m still as good at it as I used to be I don’t need you to protect me.”
“It’s not about protecting you.” Tech folded his arms. “And why shouldn’t things be different? Things are different.”
“Not for how we do our job like Ace and me go to basherball games together but that doesn’t make him keep me off missions or worry about me heck he doesn’t even do that for Lexi you know so I don’t see why it should be any different for us.”
“Basherball games? Is that all this is to you?”
Rev met his eyes. “Doesn’t matter what it is to me we’re talking about what it is to you.”
“What it is to me?” Tech spread his paws. “What it is to me? You want to know? I came down here to see how you are. I have to go talk to Sal again. I was going to ask you to come along. He wanted… he wanted to meet this guy I’m seeing. That’s what it is to me.”
He waited for Rev’s reaction. The roadrunner looked back at him silently, so he palmed the door open and walked out.
“So, ah, my research.” Sal shrugged. “The community is very inwardly focused, mostly believing that the world government doesn’t care about them. The disturbing trend about the militia groups is more and more young people joining them. I actually did a little paper on some of the groups. Don’t know if you saw it.”
Tech shook his head, taking a drink of his coffee. Flyers swooped lazily past the balcony outside. “I didn’t. I’ll look for it, though. When I was growing up, there were only a few, organized by species.”
“They still are. There are more now, and they’re a little bigger. I wish I’d had the time to explore them more.”
“I thought you said your research was done.”
One corner of his friend’s mouth slid up in a humorless smile. “I said it was over. I didn’t say it was done.”
Tech frowned. “Why?”
“No more funding. It was a struggle to get the first grant, and that ran out almost a year ago. I spent most of my savings staying there an extra six months so I could at least get some significant data.”
“That’s… disappointing.”
“Tell me about it. I wish people would pay attention to them.” He toyed with his fork, and then looked up at Tech. “The militias are the kind of thing you get when you have a disadvantaged people marginalized like that. Nothing unusual. But there was one group… you asked about the meteor, right? I can see why you’d be interested in it. This new group believed it was aimed at them, that it was a deliberate attempt to wipe out the critters.”
Tech snorted. “If it was, whoever it was had terrible aim.”
Sal nodded. “But they believe there’ll be another meteor, unless they stop it.”
“They’re crazy.”
“Maybe
