‘I kind of think my gen-mod is kicking in,’ Ethan said to Leita, as they lay lounging in bed.

‘Really? Is that the reason you’ve been laying around all day, right after you declared war on the world’?

‘Ah, I was just pissed off by the microchip business and those aliens. You know, I got hit by a lot yesterday. Finding out I have an implant, and all the other crazy shit going on. I just got carried away,’ Ethan replied, lazily looking at the ceiling, but not noticing it. ‘By the way, I decided to call off the revolution. You can tell your people’.

‘My people submitted your proposal to the Judicial Commission and it was rejected’.

‘Alrighty then.’

‘Hmph!’ he grunted.

‘What?’

‘Why do you think it took me so long to figure out I have a microchip? Millions of people knew this about themself before I did, including Darryl. I’d like to think I have a little more on the ball than Darryl.

‘I don’t know. I’ve always considered you to be a dumbass. I’m not surprised.’ Leita joked.

Ethan gave her a sarcastic grin. ‘Dually, why did it take me so long to realize I have this chip in my head?’

‘Delayed recognition is attributable to the maturity of one’s soul. It’s much like a gene. It can be deeply recessed within the individual, and simply take longer to be recognized.’ Dually responded through Leita’s UPI which sat neglected in a corner of the room.

‘There you go. I was a psychopath’, Ethan replied nonchalantly.

‘I see you and Dually are friends again.’

‘We’re speaking. I wouldn’t say we’re friends’.

‘I’m going to lose you Ethan’, Leita sighed. ‘You’re losing your place in the spectrum.’

‘Oh bullshit! I’m still a badass. Just approaching things from a different perspective that’s all.

‘What do you think a spectrum is?’

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

Ethan looked at Leita. He never noticed the fear Leita carried in her eyes. He knew it was there, he just hadn’t noticed it until now. ‘You know, I’m not going to leave you Leita. There’s something about you I can’t walk away from. It’s been that way since the moment I met you. Whatever happens from here on, happens to us together. Okay’?

Leita glimpsed anxiously into Ethan’s eyes. Was there any sincerity there? Was he being honest? She wanted to believe he was.

Ethan noticed her anxious wondering. He rolled on top of her and started tickling her and covering her with big, sloppy kisses.

Leita pushed him away. Sometimes he acted like a big dumb dog. That was one of the things she loved about him.

‘Wait,’ he said, pulling her back. ‘We need to fuck. I have to get going.’

‘Going where?

‘I’m going to build a whole new world where you and I can live in bliss.’

‘Like what? One of those world, worlds?’ She was referring to a VRAID world.

‘Yeah.’

‘You just said you’re not leaving me, and now you’re going to jump into one of those stasis chambers and be gone for God knows how long.’

‘Yeah.’

‘And then what? I’m supposed to jump into my own stasis chamber and join you in your new world? Both of us locked in our own private chamber for eternity? That’s not my idea of being together.’

‘I don’t know what it will be like. I’m going on a quest to find myself. Dually told me about them. Maybe I’ll come back with one of those VR worlds. Maybe something like a summer cabin we can run off to. Think about it, Leita. It could be fun. You can do some cool things in those simulations. Admit it, wouldn’t you like to know what it’s like having a dick? You can do that there. Would you like that, Leita? Would you like to have a dick?’

‘I wonder what this is all about,’ Leita asked herself. Ethan was always coming up with these stupid things to do. That was just how he was. Always had to be conquering something. Leita figured it was a way to burn off some of the anger she knew boiled just beneath his surface. She guessed if they were to be together, this was part of the package. ‘Would you?’ she said, trying to stick her finger up Ethan’s butt.

‘So how long is this going to take?’ Leita asked, after a particularly passionate lovemaking. Who knew when they’d be together again?

‘I have no idea, Leita. First of all, I’m going to find myself. You’re looking at a man who’s about to embark on the hero’s journey. I’ll walk in a boy, I’ll come back a man.’

‘So we’re talking years. Possibly decades?’

‘Leita,’ Ethan looked at her seriously. ‘I want to come back a better man. I think I owe this to you before we begin our life together. I want us to be happy forever’.

‘So, how long?’

‘I don’t know. I’ve never been on a quest before. I’ll be back when I get some answers. That’s all I can tell you.’

Leita sighed and resigned herself to her new life with and without Ethan. She felt she could count on him to come back, but she also feared that something or someone would come along and take him away from her. That’s how she felt.