บท 8: Clubhouse Tour PT.1
As Lena prepared a meal for them, Marcus and Vivi ventured through the halls of the clubhouse. Engaging in casual conversation that lightened the atmosphere between them as they made their way down a dimly lit hallway branching off from the main hall. The walls were covered in digital art that transferred from wall to wall seamlessly creating images that seemed to ride the walls. Throughout the hall, multiple doors lined both walls up to the end, names written on them using a digital screen decorated to the owner's liking.
Suddenly, Vivi halted in front of a room with a worn, dark wood door adorned with a blank digital screen integrated into the upper center.
"Where is our first stop?" Marcus inquired, His smile momentarily taking Vivi by surprise by how natural it seemed compared to minutes before. As she reciprocated with a smile of her own, it concealed a hint of hidden sadness that Marcus noticed. "This will be your room for the night, as it is the only empty one," she stated, and Marcus instantly grasped the underlying sorrow behind her smile.
"Mari's old room…" Marcus said softly within his head as he once again thought back to that moment. "Don't worry about it!" Vivi interrupted, her perceptiveness catching him off guard, his thoughts refocusing on her as she stood on her tiptoes, aligning their heights as Marcus was a bit taller, "I'm sure Mari would want you to use it, she was such a caring and understanding girl who was extremely generous at times, letting people stay in her room when they needed support.
Since you need it now don't feel bad about it, Mari wouldn't like it." Vivi continued, her feet falling flat on the ground as she turned to the door and opened it wide, revealing the room's interior.
Stepping inside, followed by Vivi, Marcus surveyed the room. To the right was a large queen size adorned with white and gold bedding set, the blanket embroidered with golden stitch designs. On the left, a desk and chair sat along with a mounted display on the wall beside it, showing a live video of the street just above them, the display functioning as an underground window of sorts.
Seeing him looking at the room, Vivi spoke, "If you have a NeuroNet, you can control higher tech rooms with a thought, things like the room's temperature control and adjustable lighting, all useful things to help set the mood when you have company. Did you know that was possible?" Vivi asked, taking a seat on the edge of the bed as a playful smirk formed on her face.
"I did not know that…" Marcus said, his eyes lit with newfound enthusiasm, the allure of being able to control the room with his mind too great to suppress. "Mind showing me how to do it?" he said, turning to see Vivi sitting on the bed behind him, her position fairly seductive as she crossed one leg over the other while leaning back on her elbows.
"Teach you how to connect it all to your NeuroNet? Or did you mean the setting the mood part?"
"Maybe both, if there's time?" Marcus responded with a playful glimmer in his eyes, intriguing Vivi with his boldness to go along with her teasing.
…
..
.
"Pretty cool…" Marcus commented, his voice filled with awe as he took over fifteen minutes to absorb Vivi's instructions. With a thought, he had gained control over the room's ambiance, manipulating the lighting to lower it to a calming dim and the temperature to a cool sixty-seven degrees Fahrenheit.
Sitting beside Marcus on the edge of the bed, Vivi observed his actions, her eyes trained on him with a mix of intrigue and admiration as she watched how quickly he learned to manipulate the room's settings.
"Now, how is this for setting the mood?" He suddenly asked, reminding Vivi what she had said minutes before. Not sure how to respond, she quickly thought up something that disappeared just as quickly when eyes locked, Vivi finding herself lost in the complex emotion Marcus held within his gaze. Unsure how to go forward, she continued looking into his eyes, the glimmer present once again as it hid his suppressed feelings, a mix of pain and hope.
She felt the urge to comfort him but just as her emotions surged high, Marcus smiled, seeing her increasingly flustered expression as an amusing win for him.
As a result of the smile, Vivi quickly jumped to her feet, stumbling on her words as she grabbed Marcus by the hand, practically dragging him along to continue the rest of the tour. Seeing the practically red cheeks she had offset by her blue hair, Marcus felt something inside him lighten up to Vivi's presence.
Using the time it took to walk between the rooms and the next location, the gym, Vivi managed to regain her composure as she kept up the light conversation, mixing some flirting in as well to fluster Marcus and reestablish her position as the teaser of the shortly formed pair.
Arriving at the indoor gym, a space that held high-tech workout equipment, the duo entered. Stepping to the center of the room, Vivi began pointing out state-of-the-art including treadmills, weight machines, and virtual reality training devices that came out within the last three years, She also explained the floor design, a mix of concrete and on top of it reinforced rubber, allowing someone to exercise as intensely as they wished.
Finished with her explanation Vivi continued to drag Marcus to the next location. Continuing into another room near the gym, Marcus was assaulted by the smell of sulfur, His eyes honing in on the gun range-type room they had entered. "As you can probably tell this is our gun range, we test out our weapons here and make sure they're good to go in case we need them."
Turning to look at her, Marcus developed an increasingly downcast expression as he asked, "Why do you need to use them?" to which Vivi looked at him as if he were joking. It was then that she remembered what he went through, her eyes lowering as she considered what to say before turning to meet his gaze as she held her hand on her hip.
"Do you think guns killed Mari and your friend? Yes or No?" She asked, to which Marcus slowly nodded his head. Feeling a nerve in her head twitch, Vivi took a deep breath as the feelings of happiness she had a moment ago took a backseat to the incoming annoyance.
"You aren't as smart as you look if you truly think that. Guns may be what killed Mari and your friend, but guns are just tools. Tools alone don't kill people, people kill people plain and simple.
If you don't think you'll need a gun in this city, then you better have top-of-the-line cybernetic augments on you, otherwise, you'll probably want one in case something happens.
That is unless you want to be helpless if you find yourself experiencing similar situations, Not that I'd want you to go through that again" Vivi said, her eyes unwavering before turning them away at the end of her short tangent. She knew the pain of losing a friend but losing your parents as well in such a short time and seeing them dead as well is something she wouldn't understand no matter how much she tried.
Thinking about it for a few moments, Marcus instantly grasped the crux of her argument, understanding her words to be true but unwilling to accept it at the moment. Seeing his current state, she realized while her words were spoken to help him understand her thinking, she was too forceful and was ruining the rapport she had built. Not wanting him to grow distant after the progress they made, she hung her head down, her hair covering her face as it had taken on a sad expression.
Not wanting to dwell on things that ruined the atmosphere between them, Vivi grabbed his sleeve and pulled him to the door without saying a word, only turning to hug him as they left the room. The smell of softly scented perfume assaulted Marcus's nose as his face gradually relaxed, understanding she wasn't trying to be insensitive with her words a moment ago.
"Sorry, just think about it and come up with your choice on the matter another time," she said softly while pulling away from the hug, dragging him along once again as they left the gun range behind, continuing the tour.
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