May 13
This is how Platform Decay went, right?
seen from China
seen from United States
seen from United Kingdom
seen from Singapore
seen from Singapore
seen from China
seen from China
seen from China
seen from Russia
seen from China
seen from United Kingdom
seen from China
seen from China
seen from China
seen from China
seen from Malaysia
seen from China
seen from Germany
seen from Jordan
seen from China
This is how Platform Decay went, right?
Relax
Mensah/Farai
Gen
Set between FT and NE
It wasn’t as if Ayda had forgotten how to relax. It was just that she couldn’t. Not really. Not while GrayCris was out there, licking its wounds, trying to get rid of evidence. She and SecUnit being that evidence. And she couldn’t burden it more than it already was—it had appointed itself as her bodyguard, and having it near did cut the edge off a little. But it wasn’t fair to SecUnit. It needed time to discover who it was and what it wanted, and that couldn’t be—shouldn’t be—protecting her. She couldn’t lean on it forever. Yet the thought of it leaving her made her tense up and any attempts to relax disappeared.
Not that she told anyone this, not even SecUnit itself. She couldn’t. How could they understand? She barely had understood the sheer depths the corporates would go to until—until—
“Ayda, you are one giant knot,” Farai said softly. “Lie down and let me rub your back.”
Ayda nodded and lay down in her bed on her stomach, her head resting on a pillow, turned away from Farai. She tried to let her partner’s gentle touch lull her into security. SecUnit wasn’t very far away, so even if there was an attempt while Farai was here, then—
“Ayda, relax,” Farai said, her tone sharp this time.
“I’m trying,” Ayda muttered. Farai managed to catch the mumbled words. She rubbed at Ayda’s back in soothing circles.
“Why are you so stressed, love?” she asked. “What are you thinking about?”
Ayda opened her mouth to answer, then realized she couldn’t. She closed it again.
“I’m…I’m sorry,” she mumbled after a few minutes. Farai continued to massage her back. “I can’t.”
“All right,” Farai said. She was trying to hide her frustration and worry, but it bled into her tone anyway. Ayda winced. “Oh, did I press too hard?”
Yes. “No.”
It was silent in the room. Farai continued her massage, and didn’t try to speak. Slowly Ayda felt the knots in her back give way, and she fell into a fitful sleep.