Real life greets me with a feeling of soreness in my body again. Though not as bad as yesterday. I move my legs a little, still laying on the metal surface of the capsule. The blood moves as my legs awake. Feeling droplets of sweat form I sit up and take a breather.

Then I see him, the witness of my pathetic stretch. My brother is sitting in the chair in front of the capsule, reading something on his phone. I see his amused smile as I feel my cheeks get warmer.

"Need help?" he asks, and I swear I could hear a mocking tone in his voice.

"No, I will manage," I say and stand up, and take a step forward. The sudden movement brought a little bit of pain but I suppress it and walk towards my brother.

"Good," he nods and stands up from his chair, and then pushes it to me. I catch it and sit on it, cursing my impatience. I look up to my brother who was observing me with an unreadable expression. Did he spend two hours here?

I say to him with a smirk as I play with the flock of my hair, "Did you expect me to break it?"

He frowns as he sees my smug expression, "To be honest yes." He nods towards the capsule, "I was ready to stop capsule if you played past two hours."

"I see."

The awkward silence takes place as I still look at him not knowing should I be angry or touched. He shakes his head and leaves my room.

"So much for a sister-brother bond," I mutter and go to the bathroom.

---

After showering and changing clothes I am back in my room. Browsing the internet on my phone I see the notification pop up. I open the group and read what's happening. It was interesting, reading what others say, getting to know their lives. It was my second source of entertainment the past month, real-life soap opera.

I feel a dumb smile pop as I read an exchange between the members. One of them accuses the other of being a contrarian while he argues that he is simply voicing his opinion. I giggle as the mod shuts the contrarian one with a label right next to his name.

I look at my phone again noticing the time, two hours before lunch hours. Humming catchy pop-melody I walk to the kitchen, noticing that my brother has left, his shoes and jacket were missing in the hallways cupboard.

I start cooking lunch, microwaving the chicken breast and cutting onions and carrots. I put the onion and carrot to cook in a hot oiled pan and carve the chicken breast into cubes and throw them on top of the vegetables. Then I put a kettle with water to boil.

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I let chicken fry a little then sprinkle rice on top and mix it constantly. Letting the rice cook a little I pour boiling water at the top. The steam almost reaches my eyes as I close the pan with the cap. Now to just wait and add more water until rice is ready.

I listen to the old jazz while I wait in the kitchen when I hear the door open. Seems like brother is back, but he is talking with someone, curious. I slowly sneak, and quietly open the door to the hallway, enough to make a peephole as I look who is it.

I see my brother talking to someone, is it who I think it is?

"How is your work?" my eldest brother, Joseph, says. His smile radiates the room, in contrast to my older brother, Abe, who is frowning.

"Going," he replies without much fanfare.

"That's all?" Joseph says as he puts his jacket on the hook, his suit and white shirt as flawless as ever.

"Ye," Abe grunts, in his tattered shirt and sweatpants. Few people would recognize them as brothers.

"Fair enough," Joseph chuckles and then smells the air, "Did Sophia cook lunch?"

"How did you realize?" Abe asks as he strips his boots.

"Only her cooking makes this delicious smell," the eldest brother notes. Then he condemns Abe, "You don't even bother to fry vegetables."

After that exchange brothers walk into the kitchen, while I hastily retread into my chair near the table. I take my seat and look at my phone, pretending that I didn't hear them coming.

The door opens and Joseph walks in, while Abe frown and goes back to his room. My eldest brother smiles as he sees me, and smells the air "Hello Sofa, what are you cooking?"

"Chicken with rice," I say seeing him approach the stove with a boiling pot, he opens it and lets the steam hits him.

He smiles as the warmth creeps to his face, bringing life to his pale face, "Nice, plov is always good."

"Don't they have a good cafe in your work?" I ask him shaking my head as his fascination. I don't regard myself as a good cook and seeing someone praise it feels wrong.

"Yes but it doesn't match to home-cooked stuff," he says and closes the pot. Then he assumes some sort of pose. He hides his left hand in his shirt, "The soulless meal is not as delicious as something that made with love."

"Are you sure that my cooking is full of love instead of indifference?" I say, rolling my eyes at his theatricality.

He squeezes his chest and laments, "You wound me, dear sister!" He approaches me and makes his best puppy eyes, "Are you implying you don't love your brother?"

I smile at his theatricality, "I never said that."

"Come here dear," he opens his arms, and I hop right into his embrace.

"How was your life?" Joseph asks, "It was like a half of year since we saw each other in person, tell me everything!"

"Nothing much," I mutter into his chest, "I finished school a month ago, mom bought me a VR capsule-"

"Ooh, how is it?" he cuts me off with an excited expression, his eyes shine with wonder. He was always a fan of new technologies.

"Good, I had fun in it," I say, then I admit, "Though it is a little uncomfortable."

"It is an experimental stuff after all," he says with a calculated look on his face, "I heard some civilian capsules are going through final testing."

Then he puts his finger on my lips as he panics, "Sssh don't tell anyone I told you that."

"I won't."

"Good," Joseph calms down, then his eyes shine once more, "Tell me more about your experience with the capsule."

I spend the rest of the noon talking with my brother until his lunch break is over and he had to leave.