After the Second Fall Pt. 02.2

Their meal now complete, Rachel led them back to the training room, then excused herself. In only a short while, she returned with two boxes: one containing a Chess set and the other a Go board and stones. The next several bells were spent going over the rules for each and playing a few tentative games, with Rosie and Rachel acting as the instructors, respectively. Finally, mentally fatigued and more than a little bored, the group trudged back to the Adams' dorm.

As he opened his door, Pip wasn't thinking about anything except laying down in bed and going to sleep; the day's activities had left him with a headache that was slowly building beyond the background pain that had been present since he was injured. The shock of walking into a much larger space than expected caused him to clamp down on time reflexively, or to at least try to; instead, the pain flared and he staggered toward his bed, which was fortunately in the same place.

In moments, Maggie was next to him, checking his eyes and feeling his forehead for a fever. Relieved with what she found, she leaned back. "Did you try to trigger the Effect?"

"Um huh," he confirmed. "Didn't mean to -- was automatic. Forgot about changes to room."

Maggie nodded. "Was it as bad as yesterday?"

"Mmmph," he responsded, closing his eyes. Maggie looked back over her shoulder to see concerned looks.

"He'll be okay. The new room setup surprised him, and he... overreacted."

Cap nodded contemplatively, then turned to examine the changes. Where before it had been a single occupancy room, two walls had been removed, linking three singles together, one after another. At the far end was a setup mirroring Pip's, with an Adam-sized bed and chair and a small end table; the space between was empty. His inspection complete, Cap pronounced the work acceptable and excused himself for the evening.

Rachel turned to Emily. "Rosie, Maggie, and I stay here with Pip; if you'd like, I can have a separate bed brought in, or you can stay in your old room."

Emily's eyes got wide, not sure if there was a correct decision. "I'll stay... in my room," she replied, her voice raising in the end as if she was asking a question.

"Of course," Rachel soothed. "If you change your mind, you can take care of the arrangements yourself by talking with Cap, or eventually, his replacement."

Emily nodded quickly, and after a very brief farewell, made her own escape.

Finally, Rachel turned to Mars, pointing to the far end of the room. "That's your area now. I thought it best if you were in the same room with Pip, just in case something were to happen. I don't know if the Buildings crew brought your personal things over, so you will probably want to check before too long."

Mars nodded and turned to go, but Rachel held up her hand. "One more thing: there won't be any privacy here, by design. I thought about asking for a curtain between rooms, but that would defeat the purpose of having you here. Will that be a problem for you?"

The Adam looked at her, not understanding the basis for the question. "Should it?"

Rachel shook her head. "Not necessarily, but if our being intimate with Pip causes you any distress, or if you find it problematic sharing intimacy with one of the PETs while we're around, let us know and we'll figure something out."

Mars glanced to Pip, who made a gesture that indicated he would explain later. Looking back to Rachel, the new Adam nodded and went to assess the state of his few possessions. As for Pip, his head was still ringing from trying to use the Effect, so he crawled further up the bed and was soon out. Without much else to do for the moment, Rosie pulled out the chess set, eliciting a good natured groan from Maggie.

Chapter 12

Mars passed.

Seeing that he was ahead -- very far ahead, in fact -- Pip ended the game of Go they had been playing for the last bell. "Well done, Piper," said Mars, holding out his fist. Pip tapped it with his own, graciously accepting the compliment with a tilt of his head.

"Pip, why don't you take it a little easier on Mars?" asked Emily, who had been watching.

"Why would I do that?"

On the other side of the table, Maggie smiled and sat up straighter, looking forward to the exchange. Emily's brow furrowed. "Well, every time the two of you play, it's awfully one-sided -- sorry, Mars." The younger Adam shrugged, knowing it was a true statement. "I think you would both enjoy it more if he at least had a chance of winning."

Pip looked confused. "Rachel's idea was that playing Go and Chess would be a competitive outlet. If I don't do my best, then what's the point of playing?"

"For fun, of course."

"I thought that's what the hobbies were for," stated Mars, also now perplexed. Emily put her head in her hands with a groan, while Maggie chuckled, knowing what the new assistant was going through from her own past efforts.

Emily looked up again, her eyes eager. "Okay, how about this -- what if you were trying to teach Mars how to play Go for the first time? Would you still do things the same way?"

"Yes, but I would explain the rationale behind my moves, and also point out where I didn't agree with what he was doing."

"So you could teach me how to play better?" Mars asked.

Pip shook his head. "More like, I could teach you how to think more strategically."

Mars nodded his head enthusiastically. "Good: a third hobby, then." He held out his fist for confirmation.

"Actually," said Pip, not immediately returning the gesture, "I did have a thought.

"When Loren and I would spar, at least recently, I would act as if an arm or leg was injured and not use it. It made our practices much more evenly balanced. You and I can do that when we play. I already give you the maximum Komi of seven and a half, but what if you could make the first move, too?"

"But that's not within the rules," replied Mars.

Emily smacked her forehead. "You're both missing the point," she said with exasperation. "Hobbies are supposed to be enjoyable, relaxing. You don't have to treat them like another checkbox on a list."

"I... don't know what that means," Pip admitted.

"Never mind. Other than... sex," started Emily, reddening, "what do you do when you have free time?"

Pip thought about it for a moment. "I used to read a little, and sometimes John and I would go out on the race bikes. That's all that comes to mind."

"Reading," said Emily smiling broadly, "that's good. What do you like to read?"

"Stories, mostly," he replied, pulling several books out of the drawer in the end table. Sometimes I look at pictures in magazines, too."

Seeing what Pip was holding, Emily felt sick to her stomach: the books were meant for five or six year old children. She forced a smile onto her face and motioned to Maggie with her head, stepping into the hall. "How is that even possible?" she whispered fiercely when the door had closed behind them.

Maggie responded sadly, "There's no time in their upbringing for a typical education: all day long they fight, or train to fight."

"But he's eloquent when he speaks, and none of us have come close to beating him in Go. I think he'll probably be a match for Rosie in Chess soon."

Smiling proudly, Maggie nodded her head. "It's not a matter of intelligence. Pip might not be smart in the sense that you and I are used to, but when it comes to strategy and problem solving..." she trailed off. "If I had to guess, I would say it was John's influence that shaped how he thinks. John was great at turning situations to his advantage -- seeing things that nobody else saw -- and quite a bit of that seems to have rubbed off on Pip."

Emily sighed. "This explains why Mars was so eager to learn math, I guess." She shook her head dejectedly. "It just seems like such a waste. What are they going to do when they're done fighting?"

"If we're lucky," Maggie replied seriously, "retire and teach other Adams how to fight. You do know how this whole things works, right?"

"Yeah," admitted Emily with another sigh, running her hands through her hair, "but I don't like it. I hate the idea of mindless killing machines, especially when I know Pip and Mars are more than that, and I suspect the others are as well."

"Well, maybe we just focus on our Adams for now," Maggie said gently. "What do you have in mind?"

Emily folded her arms, her face pulled tight with concentration. Suddenly, her head popped up and she smiled. "Pip said he likes stories, so let's give them some. I'll be back." Emily trotted off down the hall, leaving Maggie confused, but smiling. Shaking her head, she went back into the room to see what the boys had gotten up to.

When Rachel walked into the room that evening, she found Pip and Rosie playing Chess, but Pip's hand was raised above the board, holding a knight, unmoving; his face was serious and he was barely breathing.

In the chair, Mars was leaning forward, elbows propped on his knees and chin resting on folded hands -- he, too, was completely motionless. For the briefest instant, Rachel suspected time had stopped for her, until she realized Emily was reading aloud and the moment passed, leaving her feeling silly. Emily's voice was full of emotion, rising and falling as she described some long ago battle. Stepping close to Rosie, Rachel asked in a whisper, "What's going on?"

"It's a novel Emily had, describing the lead up to the Fall. The pace of our game has slowed quite a bit since she got to the exciting part." Overhearing, Pip offered an apologetic smile and placed his piece, removing one of Rosie's. "And he's winning."

Rachel patted her friend's shoulder and shrugged off her jacket, then hung it on the lower of the two clothing racks; her shirt soon followed.

The movement caught Emily's attention and she glanced up, then returned to reading. A moment later, Rachel's actions sank in and Emily's voice cut off abruptly. The young woman watched, stupefied, as the director continued disrobing immodestly. Her pause in reading seemed to snap Mars out of his trance. "Is that how it ends?"

"What? Oh, no -- I just got distracted. Maybe we should be done for the evening. I think Director Frazier could use some privacy."

"Don't mind me," Rachel said tiredly, climbing onto the bed and flopping down, sans clothing. At the table, Rosie tipped over her king. "Good game, Pip. Maybe Emily is right about wrapping things up. It looks like Rachel could use some TLC."

Smiling, Pip pushed back his chair and quickly pulled his shirt off.

Emily squeaked and headed for the door, only to find Mars already there. "Would you mind reading a little more? I really like it."

Emily managed a noise in response, but it fell short of an actual word. Struggling to remain calm, she jumped visibly when someone laid a hand on her shoulder and another on her lower back. "It's okay," Rosie said comfortingly. "Why don't you and Mars go read on the other side of the room." Emily nodded disjointedly and walked numbly to the far chair, studiously avoiding looking back where she had come from; Mars joined her soon after, sitting on his bed, a smile on his face.

The huge man's enthusiasm was infectious, and without others around, his innate curiosity showed itself as he asked one question after another. It took some time, but Emily relaxed, and was soon enjoying the back and forth. While his inquiries tended to be simple, they were well reasoned and on-point, and Emily's suspicion of Mars' hidden intellect grew stronger. She had all but forgotten what was going on across the room when a drawn out moan interrupted her thoughts, and she looked up.

At some point, Maggie had arrived, and she and Rosie were now busy with Rachel's upper body. Pip's huge frame obstructed Emily's view, but she could tell from the sounds coming from the bed that between their attention and Pip's -- who was busy doing something to her lower half -- Rachel was enjoying their efforts.

"He's very fortunate," said Mars quietly. His voice brought Emily's attention back to their side of the room.

"What do you mean? It sounds to me like she's the lucky one," Emily replied.

Mars was quiet for a time, then shook his head. "No, I think it's him. An Adam doesn't always find a First, and I know none of the others have a Second. That's very special."

"So three is unheard of?"

"I don't know," said Mars as Rachel let out a wail. "I don't understand the relationship Piper has with Director Frazier. She's not a PET, so it doesn't make sense to me."

Emily frowned. "I think they love each other. That's certainly how it seems."

"That's what Rosie told me, but she and Maggie are PETs -- it's their job to take care of Adams. Why does an Adam need somebody whose job isn't to care for them? What's in it for them?"

There was no accusation in Mars' comment, but it took Emily aback nonetheless. She looked up at the Adam, past his strong jaw and broad nose to his eyes, so light they looked like jewels shining out from under his heavy brow. As always, she found his lack of worldliness shocking, but thought his earnestness -- always evident in those eyes -- to be wonderful.

"What would you say if I told you I wanted to kiss you?" she challenged him softly.

Mars looked down at the tiny woman next to him, dressed in light gray that accentuated her athletic frame. Her dark hair was pulled back severely, showcasing an angular face with equally dark, large, almond-shaped eyes. 'She's quite lovely,' he thought, then wondered why he hadn't noticed before. "I don't know..."

"How old are you, Mars?"

"I'll be eighteen at the end of the cycle, in about a month, the same as the rest of my class."

"So young," Emily said to herself. "I can't believe I'm more than five years older than you." She roused herself. "Mars, you know my... friend was killed in the attack?" He nodded. "I need some time to process that, as well as everything else that's happened since.

"Have you been intimate with any of the PETs?" Mars shook his head immediately, almost defensively. "Good, don't," Emily told him possessively. "On your birthday, I'll give you a chance to answer my question about a kiss for real." Emily held out her fist, as she had seen Mars do with Pip, causing the Adam to break into a big grin; he quickly sealed their agreement with a bump.

Across the room, Pip made a noise something like a lion roaring, and nearly as loud; Emily purposely avoided looking. "That's my cue to go." She took two steps, then turned back to look at Mars again. "It's up to you, but I think it would be nice if you let your hair grow out some." Mars reached up to feel the stubble on his nearly bald head and nodded. Emily smiled and stepped through the door.

A week later and the group had started to find its rhythm. Pip was moving around more easily and had started back on cardio work with Mars, under the direction of Cap, who had finally passed on his Maintenance responsibilities. Emily was becoming more comfortable in her new role, and was handling everything from scheduling to ordering meals. In truth, she found the work too easy, but knew it would pick up in intensity once Pip was able to do more. Her biggest issue was actually figuring out how to interact with Rosie and Maggie, who were always nice to her, but intimidated her anyway with their abundant confidence, worldly knowledge, and casual beauty; even their blue and tan uniforms challenged her continuously, shouting to the entire Complex that they were better at taking care of Adams than she could ever be.

On the bright side, she had grown closer to Mars, and they now spent several bells a day working on math or reading; Pip had declined her offered lessons, but continued to enjoy when she read stories aloud. Her one attempt at reading something with a romantic encounter had kicked off a midday tryst between Pip and Maggie, which left Emily feeling both embarrassed and frustrated, longing for something similar -- which embarrassed her further -- so now it was just one action story after another. Mars and Pip didn't seem to mind.

Pip himself was also feeling frustrated, and it was getting worse as the fight for Theiss approached. While he was fighting in the Arena, one match after another, he hadn't truly realized how fortunate he was to represent Rieckenburg. Now, he was struggling with the uncertainty of his future.

Maggie had urged him to be cautious in trying to use the Effect, and while he respected her opinion, he pushed himself anyway. For at least a bell each morning and afternoon, Pip sat motionless in either the Courtyard or his room, meditating and slowly squeezing the flow of time. His focus was on finding and then pushing his pain tolerance, again and again; progress was still very slow.

Two days before the fight, Geo was sitting in Lilith's office for their standing appointment.

"How's Pip?"

"Better since we last talked. He and Mars are doing some no-contact sparring -- mostly drills we teach them when they're five or six."

"The Effect?" Geo shook his head. "Fuck," Lilith replied dejectedly. "Not looking good then."

Geo shrugged. "It's still too soon to tell for sure, but you're right that it isn't encouraging."

"What about Rover -- is he ready to go?"

"Yes, and he understands the importance of the fight. I've worked with his handler and trainer these last two weeks, crafting a fight plan that will support our approach, even if the worst happens."

"Oh?" inquired Lilith.

"We want Marbelo's fighter out of action for as long as possible, or dead, of course. If there's a quick exchange, it's conceivable that Rover could get caught before doing any damage to his opponent, which would would set back our plans to wear them down. By starting cautiously, we think he can mitigate the risk. He's also been working really hard on cardio, so the longer the fight goes, the better chance he will have to come out on top."

"You don't think he's going to be tentative."

"Rover? No, definitely not. His tendency is to be overaggressive, so being more... choosy about his opportunities may be a good thing."

Lilith nodded and sat back in her chair, letting go of her focus, her mind drifting. Geo also relaxed, having become accustomed to the way the Executive Director would sometimes wrestle with big ideas. Consequently, he wasn't surprised when her subsequent question seemed unrelated. "Why aren't there female Adams? Er... Eves? No, that sounds weird. Anyway, the point is that we only design Adams. Have we ever tried females?"

"Not that I'm aware of," he said answering the last question, "but why would we? Men are bigger, stronger, faster -- we keep pushing those boundaries, so I don't know how changing genders would support what we're doing. In the early days, they did some experimenting with removing reproductive systems, eliminating external genitals, adding limbs -- really extreme genetic modifications that changed overall body design. I know the results were disastrous; if I remember correctly, none of the subjects made it through puberty, let alone to the Arena.

"But I can tell you have something in mind. What's the basis for the question?"

Lilith was quiet for a few more moments, then sat forward and put her arms on the desk in front of her. "I was just thinking about Rover's disposition. Not all the Adams are aggressive, right?"

"No, unfortunately not. Several are culled from the program each year because they don't have the drive to be successful in the Arena. As long as they aren't emotionally unstable, most go to work North of the city; I haven't been in quite a while, but last time I visited, the community was thriving. Quite a few of our not-quite-Adams had taken wives, so there's a pretty big hybrid population, and since disposition is at least partially an inherited trait, I hear that it runs pretty smoothly. If I remember correctly, the only one that stuck around here is Briggs, who works in the Central Maintenance Shop on engines -- nice enough fella, but a little slow."