Page 24 of Chaos Theory
‘I heard. Sounds very like a date. How did it go?’
I laugh lightly. ‘I’m not taking the bait. It wasn’t a date.’
‘Well, I’ll let you off the hook this time, because you did a rhyme. And sure – it looks like I’m joining the club too. Cheers,’ he says, clinking my glass.
I’m reassured by this exchange. The teasing about being on a date, the lameness of the rhyme – we’re definitely in the realm of casual office banter. In spite of our hookups – which are in the past now anyway – we’re just workmates at the end of the day. We can be honest. We don’t need to impress each other. It’s nice, actually.
‘Josh is an interesting person,’ I say. ‘It was good to hear about life’ – I gesture vaguely – ‘beyond.’
He raises an eyebrow at me. ‘He’s not one of those born-again Christians, is he?’
I laugh. ‘No! I just mean – it’s good to know there’s life beyond Go Ireland.’
‘That’s the rumour all right.’ He leans back against the bar.
‘We have to get out of here,’ I say.
He looks at his watch. ‘Already? Okay, I can skull this. Just give me five seconds.’
‘No!’ I slap his arm lightly. Try not to notice the muscle tone. ‘I mean – we both have to get out of Go Ireland.’
‘Something will turn up,’ he says.
‘Something did turn up.’ I point at Kobi. ‘Him.’
We both look over at our robot colleague. Okay, he doesn’t exactly blend in, and he’s getting the odd sideways glance from other patrons, but it’s not the strangest thing I’ve ever witnessed. In the taxi over here, the cab driver barely seemed to notice his unusual passenger. I think I overhear someone in the work group say, ‘Shots!’ Maybe this is the new normal.
‘Josh – and Jen actually – seem to think this could be a goodopportunity. For me. You know…maybe I can upskill. And move on.’
‘Like you always do.’ There’s something in his tone that catches me unawares.
‘What do you mean by that?’
He won’t look at me. ‘Nothing. Just what you’ve said yourself. You don’t stay anywhere long. I’m surprised you’ve even been at Go Ireland this long, to be honest.’
It might be true, but it feels like an attack. I don’twantto keep moving on. I’ve loved Dublin ever since I came back here to go to college, having spent my whole childhood and teen years globe-trotting against my will. And if I can’t seem to settle at a job or a career, well, that’s just the way I am. The restlessness is in-built. Either that or it’s just too hard to break a habit sewn into me in childhood. Did Dad have this feeling too? Is that why he dragged us to a different country every couple of years?
I can’t say any of this to Shane. ‘I’m going to the bathroom. Keep an eye on Kobi for me for a few minutes, will you?’
SIXTEEN
7:30pm
The second I get back from the bathroom, I know something is wrong.
Kobi and Shane are the only ones in the dead zone. Everyone else has vanished. Shane is standing in front of Kobi, looking him up and down. Kobi is silent, arms dangling, bent forward a little at the waist. A dishevelled, human-like pose. Like he’s had too much to drink. Only robots don’t drink.
I start pressing buttons on his control panel, but I don’t really know what I’m doing. ‘What the feck, Shane? What happened?’
‘I don’t know. I didn’t see.’
‘I thought you were keeping an eye on him! I left you alone for two minutes.’
‘I’m sorry. I must have got distracted. No one would tell me what happened.’
The frantic button-pressing is having no effect. That’s when I notice it. Droplets of liquid. I pat Kobi down. ‘He’s wet.’
‘That doesn’t seem good,’ says Shane.
